(CNN Spanish) — Liverpool imposed its mark and its forcefulness to be the first finalist in the Champions League. The English team suffered in the first half and saw how Villarreal left with a two-goal advantage at the break, which equalized temporarily the series. But in the second half Jürgen Klopp put his chips in order and, with the help of goalkeeper Rulli’s mistakes, he turned the game around and will play the final of the most important club tournament in the world.
Villarreal’s Boulaye Dia made it 1-0 just 3 minutes into the game, following a pass from Étienne Capoue.
Francis Coquelin scored the second, also assisted by Capoue. The series went 2-2 at that point.
The entry of the Colombian Luis Díaz at 46 minutes, by Diego Jota, changed the face of Liverpool.
Fabinho scored the first for Liverpool assisted by Mohamed Salah in the 62nd minute. A golden goal to put the classification on track. The ball passed between the legs of goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli.
Luis Díaz scored with a header, following a pass from Alexander-Arnold, at 67: it was a 2-2 draw in the match. Another Rulli mistake: a night to forget for the Argentine goalkeeper.
???? This was Luis Díaz’s goal with Liverpool ⚽️, sentence the series and is one step away from going to the final of #ChampionsLeague. pic.twitter.com/jdxwUzJb9Z
– Romario Quintero R (@RomarioQR) May 3, 2022
The third was scored by Sadio Mané at 74 minutes.
Capoue was expelled at 86 for a double yellow card.
A blow of authority from a Liverpool that in the first half seemed like another team but that woke up and ratified their favoritism.
Luis Díaz has five goals at Liverpool, the team he joined in January. He is the second Colombian to score in the Champions League semi-finals, following James Rodríguez (who scored for Bayern once morest Real Madrid in 2018).
When is the Champions League final played?
This Wednesday Real Madrid receives Manchester City at home for the second leg of the other semi-final, following the 4-3 in the first leg in favor of Pep Guardiola’s team.
The final will be played on Saturday, May 28 at 3 pm ET at the Stade de France, north of Paris.
