6th May

Wow. Just...wow.

Klopp's Warriors March On

When Jurgen Klopp was signed on as Liverpool's manager, there was a palatable sense of hope. Hope that Klopp would turn things around, hope that Klopp would create a lasting squad and real momentum. But above all, there was hope that we would win trophies and get back into the Champions League. Even so, I don't think anybody even hoped, let alone expected, that Klopp would lead Liverpool to two cup finals in his first seven months in charge, let alone a Europa League Final, victory in which would see us back in the Champions League. 

If the Dortmund game was an adrenaline fuelled race to the finish with an absolutely tremendous finish, then this game was the polar opposite. Nothing quite gets the heart racing like an incredible comeback, but an anticlimax was I think just what every Liverpool fan needed after what happened three weeks ago. In the end, it was very, very easy for Liverpool, romping home 3-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate and thoroughly deserved it was too. Everything went right, from the team sheet, with the names Can and Sturridge on it, to the full time whistle, consigning Villareal to a humiliating defeat. Klopp said that Villareal wouldn't know what hit them, and he was spot on.

It's one of those games that was only easy in hindsight. During the game it was incredibly tense and nervous, as the hypothetical away goal hung over Liverpool for 80 minutes like a shade, despite the fact that said away goal never looked likely to happen. Since an own goal from Bruno Soriano in the sixth minute after a wonderful ball across the box from Roberto Firmino, Villareal failed to test Simon Mignolet, whilst Liverpool scored twice more and tested Areola again and again in the second half. But until Adam Lallana's delightful flicked goal less than ten minutes from time, the result wasn't secure, with the threat of the away goal looming until the Reds went two clear. 

Although it was Sturridge, who fully justified his starting berth with a lovely low finish in a one-on-one position, and Lallana who scored the goals, it was Roberto Firmino who created all three. Apart from an exceptional low cross for the first, he swiveled delightfully to release Sturridge for the second and wreaked havoc down the left hand side before putting in a low cross that Sturridge could only direct to Lallana for the third. Firmino, the man of the match although it's impossible to single out a player in a red shirt that put a foot wrong, was devastating all game long, weaving and creating chances and leaving Villareal (on one occasion a very embarrassed Roberto Soldado) chasing shadows and making his national manager look very silly for picking Phillipe Coutinho ahead of him for the Copa America squad. 

Another man who deserves singular praise is Emre Can. Because three weeks ago he picked up a season ending injury, yet here he was, recovered in half the time needed, playing the full 90 minutes and absolutely bossing the midfield, playing the game of his life yet he'd never been away. Liverpool just ooze class with him controlling the game and his presence allowed Klopp to go in with a very bold 4-2-3-1, with Milner 'holding' alongside Can. 

And Liverpool's dynamism, energy and power in the midfield executed the gengenpress to perfection and as a result, Villareal were never in the game. Any half chances that they created were snuffed out by the impressive duo of Dejan Lovren and Kolo Toure, with Roberto Soldado up front racking up more bookings than shots on target and looked far more likely to be sent off than to test Mignolet. Villareal did finish the game with ten men after Victor Ruiz, who had been booked for dissent in the first half, caught Lallana late on the edge of the box and was given his marching orders. 

The classless and hypocritical Marcelino blamed the referee for inconsistency, which is cheap considering Soldado and Suarez were both lucky not to get sent off in the first half and of favouring Liverpool, which was utterly ridiculous. He had the cheek to suggest that we kicked them out of the game and that for all our superiority, we didn't create many chances. Just the twelve shots on target and three goals, but you know, ignore that. And far from taking defeat well, he finished his interview by suggesting that Klopp shouldn't have come onto the pitch to celebrate - you know like he did a week ago, prematurely I might add, when his team won the first leg. 

I said before the game that I wouldn't have started Firmino, and he was the best player on the pitch. I also said that it didn't matter if I agreed with Klopp, as long as he picked the right team. And oh boy did he pick the right team. This was Liverpool at their best and frankly, Klopp deserves all of the credit for what he's done to this side. We looked like a force to be reckoned with, and after an incredible campaign, we've secured passage to Basel, to face the back-to-back holders Sevilla in two weeks time. 

And you'd have to say that Liverpool now seem to be favourites to lift the first trophy of the Jurgen Klopp era on 18th May, based on tonight's display. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• EMRE CAN
• The Ox to miss the Euros. Shocker.
• The points system in cricket is nonsense. Nonsense.
• Rooooooooooot signs a new deal at Yorkshire. 
• And Murray takes the first set against Berdych