A stroke of luck inspired Liverpool’s 2-0 victory over Villarreal in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, ex-Arsenal and France forward Thierry Henry revealed in an interview with CBS Sports.
Jurgen Klopp’s flying Reds were up against in-form Villarreal, who had slain European heavyweights Juventus and Bayern Munich in the previous stages of the tournament. Although Liverpool ran away with a comfortable 2-0 success, Henry is of the opinion that they were ‘lucky’ to get off the mark against Unai Emery’s side at Anfield.
The legendary forward believes that the opening stike which was attributed as an own goal to Villarreal defender Pervis Estupinian, opened the floodgates in the game. Prior to that, the hosts hadn’t exactly been convincing.
“If you look at the game, I think a lucky goal bailed them out, for me,” said Henry. “I think they would have knocked on the door, if not all night.
It’s a lucky goal, the own goal of Villarreal is a lucky goal and I think, before that, they weren’t showing a lot,”
the Frenchman said.
As expected, Emery, who has had Premier League experience with Arsenal between May 2018 and November 2019, made life difficult for Klopp’s men in the first half. Although his player weren’t strong in possession, they held a tight and disciplined defence, and both teams went into the half-time break goalless.
However, Liverpool upped the ante in the second 45 of the contest and started inching closer to the Villarreal goal. The floodgates opened in the 53rd minute when Jordan Henderson’s cross took a deflection off Estupinian and looped over Geronimo Rulli in goal.
Just two minutes later, Sadio Mane capitalized on that opening and converted Liverpool’s lead into two. The Premier League side also started flexing their muscle after going ahead and in all probability, should have had a third on the night.
Henry also admitted that such moments of luck and fortune are needed when a team is fighting and is alive in all four competitions as Liverpool continue to chase an unprecedented quadruple.
