Heroic Villarreal overcome by unstoppable Liverpool

A spirited effort from Villarreal just wasn't enough to overcome Liverpool on Tuesday night, despite a remarkable first-half from the Spanish side in their Champions League semi-final second leg. They lost 3-2 to the Premier League outfit.

The Yellow Submarine were excellent for the opening 45 minutes and went in at half time with a 2-0 lead, managing to have levelled the tie on aggregate.

But Jurgen Klopp's Reds roared back after half time to claim a 3-2 win on the night and book their place in a third final of the season.

Villarreal found themselves ahead inside three minutes through Boulaye Dia, unexpectedly throwing the tie open. A ball to the back post found Etienne Capoue and the Frenchman cleverly centred instead of shooting, teeing up Dia for a tap-in with Alisson Becker having already committed himself.

Driven on by a noisy Estadio De La Ceramica, the hosts kept coming. They wanted a penalty when Giovani Lo Celso went down under a challenge from Alisson, but nothing was given.

Four minutes later they doubled their lead though and Capoue again got the assist. This time he picked out a cross from the right to find Francis Coquelin free to head into the top corner.

With the dream alive, half time came at just the wrong time for Unai Emery's side.

After the break, everything changed and Luis Diaz's introduction for Diogo Jota helped that.

Geronimo Rulli let a shot from Fabinho slip through his legs just after the hour mark, and the Colombian forward then scored his own goal five minutes later to level the tie.

With the tie already resolved, Sadio Mane put the finishing touches on it with 15 minutes left to play.

Liverpool will now face either Real Madrid or Manchester City in Paris.