Thursday 28 April 2016 22:41, UK
Liverpool are looking to reach their first European final since 2007 when they play Villarreal in the Europa League semi-final first leg on Thursday night.
Jurgen Klopp's side travel to El Madrigal, but the German has not won a UEFA game in Spain before. He will be looking to put that record straight to try and lead Liverpool to the Europa League title in Basel.
Liverpool will be without plenty of key players for Thursday night's tie. Emre Can (ankle), Joe Gomez (knee), Jordan Henderson (knee), Divock Origi (ankle) and Danny Ings (knee) are all expected to miss out.
The Reds beat Borussia Dortmund in a highly dramatic second leg of the quarter-finals which saw the Merseyside club come from 3-1 down to win 4-3, progressing to the semi-finals 5-4 on aggregate.
Meanwhile, Villarreal head coach Marcelino can boast about his side's very strong home record throughout their Europa League campaign. 'The Yellow Submarine' have won every game in Europe at El Madrigal, conceding just one goal.
In La Liga, Villarreal have performed above expectations and are currently fourth in the league standings. However, they have failed to win their previous three league games.
Team news
Christian Benteke has travelled with Liverpool's squad for their Europa League semi-final first-leg tie in Villarreal.
The Belgium international has not featured for the club since the 3-2 defeat at Southampton on March 20 after sustaining a knee injury training with the international side.
Divock Origi is out for up to six weeks with ankle ligament damage whilst Emre Can (ankle), Joe Gomez (knee), Jordan Henderson (knee) and Danny Ings (knee) are all expected to miss out. Mamadou Sakho will also be missing due to a pending doping investigation.
Marcelino in stark contrast can almost call upon a fully fit squad. Only Leo Baptistao is missing as Jaume Costa and Mateo Mussachio passed late fitness tests.
In form strikers Roberto Soldado and Cedric Bakambu are fit and ready to lead the line and skipper Bruno is set to lead his side out at El Madrigal.
Stats
This will be the first meeting between Villarreal and Liverpool in Europe.
Villarreal are winless in their last 10 games against English opposition (D6 L4) whilst Liverpool have lost three of their last four games against Spanish clubs.
This will be Liverpool's fourth European semi-final against a Spanish side; they've progressed from two of those but were eliminated last time versus Atletico Madrid in the 2009/10 Europa League semi-finals.
The Yellow Submarine have only failed to score in one of their last 31 Europa League matches (including qualifiers) whilst Liverpool have only scored in three of their most recent six games played in this competition versus Spanish opposition.
11 players have scored for Liverpool in the 2015/16 Europa League; a competition-high this term.
Jurgen Klopp is yet to lose a European tie in charge of Liverpool; winning five and drawing five.
Klopp was the victorious manager in his only previous major semi-final in European competition as a coach, seeing off Real Madrid over two legs (W1, L1) in the 2012/13 Champions League.
Cedric Bakambu has recorded braces in three of his last four Europa League appearances for Villarreal.
