Villarreal branded ‘the new Atletico’ but it backfires dramatically at Liverpool

Unai Emery was hailed on Twitter after his Villarreal side delivered a "masterclass" to leave Liverpool feeling frustrated at Anfield – just before his team fell apart by conceding twice in two minutes.

The former Arsenal boss was credited by some for turning his side into 'the new Atletico Madrid ' – before Jordan Henderson's cross beat Geronimo Rulli and Sadio Mane's prod put the hosts in the driving seat.

Jurgen Klopp's men went into the Champions League semi-final first leg as huge favourites against Villarreal, who sit seventh in La Liga, despite Emery's side knocking out Bayern Munich over two legs of their recent quarter-final.

However, they were left frustrated following a tight opening half in which they failed to break the deadlock, leaving rival fans feeling pleased on social media.

One Twitter user wrote at the break: "Villarreal is nothing but Atletico Madrid 2.0."

With a second adding: "Masterclass so far from Villarreal. Have to appreciate good football tactics when I see it."

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That mood was swiftly turned on it's head in the second-half, with Pervis Estupinan credited with an own goal for deflecting Henderson's cross past Rulli before Mane grabbed a second.

Before the fixture, Emery admitted that his team would need to put in a perfect performance to come away with a result before the second leg in Spain next week.

He said: “This is the best Liverpool I’ve seen. I was there when that magnificent Liverpool won the Champions League and this year watching them, analysing them, it is better. Liverpool are in a great moment, with a project that has been growing with Klopp growing for years."

Adding: “We have to analyse, prepare, produce the best version of ourselves, let the wave carry us. We have to try to get the perfect game: we know this is a semi-final and that we’re playing the biggest favourite, but we believe in ourselves and we want to have our place on the pitch.

"It’s not a case of finishing and being satisfied [to be here], no. We play a team that under normal circumstances could be better than us but we have our mechanisms, our response, and we have to seek ways to beat them, to compete.

"Above all, we’re going to live it."

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