How Liverpool recovered against Villarreal to reach the Champions League final: Live updates

Unai Emery and his Villarreal side were valiant in their efforts to reach the Champions League final but just came up short in the end. They gave Liverpool a real test this evening and the former Arsenal manager noted his team's efforts whilst admitting the Reds deserved the place in the Parisian final.

"When you lose, the moment is sad," Emery told BT Sport. "Everybody can be happy because of the good matches, good battles against Juventus and Bayern Munich.

"Liverpool deserve to play in the final. The first half tonight we showed everybody that we are a good team as well and that we can have chances but Liverpool had the difference in the first and second leg."

It must have been one of the team talks of Klopp's career to inspire that second half from his Liverpool side after such a lacklustre first 45 minutes. He was, understandably, ecstatic when speaking to BT Sport after the match whilst also magnanimously showing his admiration for the opposing side.

"It feels like the first [Champions League final] in 20 [years]," said the Reds boss. "It's outstanding because we made it pretty tricky for ourselves.We knew before that these kind of things can happen, it's all about how you react when things don't go your way.

"[Villarreal] getting a goal after two and a half minutes is obviously the opposite of what we wanted. Respect to Villarreal, I have to say to the stadium, their team and their coach, it's unbelievable what they set up."

(Photo by Alex Gottschalk/vi/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

Usually when players and managers are asked who they would rather play in the final of a competition, they don't make a choice. But not Mo Salah.

When asked by the BT Sport panel which of the two remaining semi-finalists he'd rather face in the final in Paris, he replied: "I'd rather play Madrid, I have to be honest. City's a really tough team and if you ask me personally, I would prefer Madrid."

"It's great to be in the final for the third time in five years."

"I want to play Real Madrid, I have to be honest."

"Hopefully we'll win it from them as well."

Mo Salah has his heart set on mending Liverpool's 2018 #UCL heartbreak