Liverpool booked their third Champions League final in five seasons after a chaotic 3-2 second-leg win in Villarreal saw them progress 5-2 on aggregate.
While the three-goal cushion may look comfortable this was a test of their nerve and powers of recovery as an awful first half by their standards saw their first-leg advantage wiped out by debut goals in the competition from Boulaye Dia and Francis Coquelin.
But the half-time introduction of January signing Luis Diaz, who has reinvigorated 2022 for Jurgen Klopp’s side, changed the game – aided and abetted by a distinctly ordinary goalkeeping performance from the hosts’ Geronimo Rulli.
The Argentine had a hand – or lack of one – in all of Liverpool’s three goals from Fabinho, Diaz and Sadio Mane in 12 second-half minutes and was culpable for at least two.
Villarreal’s misery was completed when Etienne Capoue was sent off for a second yellow card for a foul on Curtis Jones late on.
To see player ratings from the match scroll through the picture gallery above.
Villarreal give Liverpool a huge scare in Champions League semi-final
