Emery: The surprise factor is no longer there against Liverpool
Unai Emery, the head coach of Villarreal, has gushed over Liverpool's talent ahead of their Champions League semi-final match at Anfield.
When Villarreal takes on the "best-ever Liverpool" for a spot in the
Champions Leaguefinal, Unai Emery thinks they must aim to "surf the wave of experience" they've gathered.
On their way to the last four,
Villarrealupset Serie A heavyweights Juventus and Bundesliga holders Bayern Munich.
On Wednesday, the Yellow Submarine head to Anfield for the opening leg, hoping to rip up yet another playbook.
Villarreal defeated Manchester United in the Europa League final last season and winning Europe's best club championship in Seville next month would be an extraordinary story.
Emery believes Liverpool, who are chasing a historical quadruple, are the favorites to win the Premier League championship, and that his team is no longer a surprise package.
"We face a bigger challenge than before," Villarreal's head coach remarked during a pre-match press conference on Tuesday. "The surprise factor is no longer there. They are the clear favorites to win this tournament.
"The team is a mirror of their coach, Jurgen Klopp, in terms of playing with joy, with enthusiasm. They are in the best moment.
"I remember my experiences against Liverpool [when he was Arsenal boss] at Anfield as challenging. I recognise the work done and the identity created by Klopp, which has since been further improved.
"I see that as an additional motivation for me, to try and beat the best-ever Liverpool. For that we will need to show our best version."
He added:
"We have been able to compete against big teams like Juve and Bayern, so they know it will be a tough game and will have to be 100 percent and give it all at Anfield.
"Of course they will feel favourites as that is natural. It is an even higher difficulty than Juventus and Bayern Munich.
"We will try to surf the wave of experience we started accumulating last season."
Villarreal haven't won in England in their previous eight games, but their last triumph was against Everton on Merseyside in August 2005.
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