Liverpool’s superb European legacy was enhanced further last night as they swept aside Villareal 3-0 in their second leg Europa League semi-final. The Spanish visitors had no answer to Liverpool’s intense attacking pressure, which was fuelled by the intense passion and fervour from the famous Kop.

Villareal were up against it after only 8 minutes when Bruno’s own goal gave Liverpool a deserved lead. The visitors admirably kept the score line to 1-0 for over an hour, but they eventually crumbled under the intense pressure, and Sturridge beat the offside trap on 63 minutes thanks to Firmino’s slide rule pass to make it 2-0.

Firmino was also instrumental in the third goal, after his jinking run and pass set up Sturridge, but he failed to connect properly with his shot on goal and Lallana reacted quickest to turn the ball in from short range with 9 minutes remaining.

The win sent Liverpool through 3-1 on aggregate and they will now face defending champions Sevilla, who knocked out Shakhtar Donetsk 5-3 on aggregate last night, at FC Basel’s ground St. Jakob-Park on the 18th May.