Klopp insists 'it's only half time' after Liverpool put one foot in Champions League final


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Jurgen Klopp has warned his Liverpool players that it is "only half time" after taking control of the Champions League semi-final with a 2-0 first leg win over Villarreal at Anfield on Wednesday night.

Two second-half goals in quick succession gave the quadruple-chasing Premier League club a firm grasp of the tie after a match they dominated from start to finish. The deadlock was broken in the 53rd minute when Villarreal defender Pervis Estupinan deflected a Jordan Henderson cross beyond Geronimo Rulli, before Liverpool doubled their lead two minutes later after Sadio Mane latched on to Mohamed Salah's pass.

On the evidence of Tuesday's first leg, it will take something monumental for Villarreal to turn the tie around and reach their first Champions League final, but Liverpool manager Klopp insisted there is still plenty of work ahead.

"In football it is always the same. You show the respect to the opponent in the way that you defend them," the German told BT Sport. "That is what we did and I liked it a lot. The counter-press was outstanding. The boys were really in the game from the first to the last second and that is why we won. It is only half time but it is better than before the game.

"Maybe for the second leg, [Villarreal striker] Gerard Moreno will be back, maybe one more. This is not all and is not a problem, we knew this before that we had two legs. If it is 0-0 tonight we go there anyway so it is all fine."

Liverpool midfielder Thiago Alcantara echoed his manager's stance and believes the Reds will face a sterner challenge at Villarreal's El Madrigal stadium.

However, he said the team's focus needs to be on Saturday's Premier League visit to in-form Newcastle United as Liverpool continue their pursuit of an unprecedented quadruple. The Reds, who won the League Cup in February, are in the hunt for all four trophies this season having reached the FA Cup final while sitting just one point behind Manchester City in the Premier League table.

"We have to recognise that we are playing a semi-final of the Champions League against a tough team like Villarreal and have to have the space to be ourselves, that's the key," he said.

"I really enjoyed the team performance, that for me is the best thing, because we put our level as high as possible and we delivered today."

Liverpool v Villarreal player ratings

"It will be hard there, I know this stadium before because of my time at Barcelona, but we don't have time to think about the game there. We have to think about our game at the weekend so that's all for us."

Villarreal have developed a habit of upsetting the giants of European football in the Champions League this season, eliminating Juventus and Bayern Munich in the past two rounds, and manager Unai Emery expects a more competitive showing from his team inside their own stadium on Tuesday.

"We can't tell nothing about the victory because they deserve it. The first half was defensively good but we didn't achieve in attack," he said.

"They had two or three chances to score. The second half was the same and they pushed and deserved to score; 2-0 is a good difference for them, for us not a good result but we will try to dream and do something different in our home.

"The match next week will be very different than tonight. It is very important in our home to change something, maybe tactically. They are going to suffer more than tonight."

MATCH INFO

Day 1 at Mount Maunganui

England 241-4

Denly 74, Stokes 67 not out, De Grandhomme 2-28

New Zealand 

Yet to bat

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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

match details

Wales v Hungary

Cardiff City Stadium, kick-off 11.45pm

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The five pillars of Islam
Messi at the Copa America

2007 – lost 3-0 to Brazil in the final

2011 – lost to Uruguay on penalties in the quarter-finals

2015 – lost to Chile on penalties in the final

2016 – lost to Chile on penalties in the final

Company%20Profile
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Royal Birkdale Golf Course

Location: Southport, Merseyside, England

Established: 1889

Type: Private

Total holes: 18

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League final:

Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports

RESULTS

Bantamweight: Jalal Al Daaja (JOR) beat Hamza Bougamza (MAR)

Catchweight 67kg: Mohamed El Mesbahi (MAR) beat Fouad Mesdari (ALG)

Lightweight: Abdullah Mohammed Ali (UAE) beat Abdelhak Amhidra (MAR)

Catchweight 73kg: Mosatafa Ibrahim Radi (PAL) beat Yazid Chouchane (ALG)

Middleweight: Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) beat Badreddine Diani (MAR)

Catchweight 78KG: Rashed Dawood (UAE) beat Adnan Bushashy (ALG)

Middleweight: Sallah-Eddine Dekhissi (MAR) beat Abdel Enam (EGY)

Catchweight 65kg: Yanis Ghemmouri (ALG) beat Rachid Hazoume (MAR)

Lightweight: Mohammed Yahya (UAE) beat Azouz Anwar (EGY)

Catchweight 79kg: Souhil Tahiri (ALG) beat Omar Hussein (PAL)

Middleweight: Tarek Suleiman (SYR) beat Laid Zerhouni (ALG)

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
if you go

The flights

Etihad flies direct from Abu Dhabi to San Francisco from Dh5,760 return including taxes. 

The car

Etihad Guest members get a 10 per cent worldwide discount when booking with Hertz, as well as earning miles on their rentals (more at www.hertz.com/etihad). A week's car hire costs from Dh1,500 including taxes.

The hotels

Along the route, Motel 6 (www.motel6.com) offers good value and comfort, with rooms from $55 (Dh202) per night including taxes. In Portland, the Jupiter Hotel (https://jupiterhotel.com/) has rooms from $165 (Dh606) per night including taxes. The Society Hotel https://thesocietyhotel.com/ has rooms from $130 (Dh478) per night including taxes. 

More info

To keep up with constant developments in Portland, visit www.travelportland.com

 

Fixtures

Opening day Premier League fixtures for August 9-11

August 9

Liverpool v Norwich 11pm

August 10

West Ham v Man City 3.30pm

Bournemouth v Sheffield Utd 6pm

Burnley v Southampton 6pm

C Palace v Everton 6pm

Leicester v Wolves 6pm

Watford v Brighton 6pm

Tottenham v Aston Villa 8.30pm

August 11

Newcastle v Arsenal 5pm

Man United v Chelsea 7.30pm

 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Non-oil%20trade
%3Cp%3ENon-oil%20trade%20between%20the%20UAE%20and%20Japan%20grew%20by%2034%20per%20cent%20over%20the%20past%20two%20years%2C%20according%20to%20data%20from%20the%20Federal%20Competitiveness%20and%20Statistics%20Centre.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EIn%2010%20years%2C%20it%20has%20reached%20a%20total%20of%20Dh524.4%20billion.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ECars%20topped%20the%20list%20of%20the%20top%20five%20commodities%20re-exported%20to%20Japan%20in%202022%2C%20with%20a%20value%20of%20Dh1.3%20billion.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EJewellery%20and%20ornaments%20amounted%20to%20Dh150%20million%20while%20precious%20metal%20scraps%20amounted%20to%20Dh105%20million.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERaw%20aluminium%20was%20ranked%20first%20among%20the%20top%20five%20commodities%20exported%20to%20Japan.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ETop%20of%20the%20list%20of%20commodities%20imported%20from%20Japan%20in%202022%20was%20cars%2C%20with%20a%20value%20of%20Dh20.08%20billion.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Director: Peyton Reed

Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas

Three stars

Updated: April 28, 2022, 5:20 AM`