Jurgen Klopp demands caution from Liverpool despite dominance over Villarreal

Jurgen Klopp has urged Liverpool not to get ahead of themselves after they blew Liverpool away in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday.

The hosts were outstanding all night long, dominating Villarreal in the first half before finally making their well-deserved breakthrough after the break when Jordan Henderson's cross ricocheted off Pervis Estupinan and into the back of the net.

Sadio Mane made it two just moments later, beating the offside trap to hand Liverpool a comfortable aggregate lead heading into next week's trip to Spain.

It was utter dominance and fans are understandably optimistic about reaching the final, but Klopp demanded that his players remain focused and cautious about their opponents.

"It was a brilliant game to be honest," he said. "We kept them quiet which was important due to the counter-attacking threat. We tried to be direct and mix it up, play through the lines and between the lines.

"We had a lot of good moments. Both of our goals were outstanding. In football, you show respect to the opponent by the way you defend them. The counter-press was outstanding and the boys were in the game from the first to the last second.

"For the next leg, Gerard Moreno will be back and maybe another player, so this is not over, but that's no problem."

The next obstacle for Liverpool in their pursuit of the quadruple comes in the form of a trip to St James' Park to face Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday, before the Reds jet off to Villarreal for the second leg of this semi-final.


Source : 90min