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Villarreal midfielder Etienne Capoue has warned his team-mates that they face ‘hell’ in the Champions League semi-finals tonight.
The Spanish side visit Anfield in the first leg of the last four showdown of Europe’s top prize with Unai Emery’s outfit very much seen as the underdogs.
Capoue is familiar with the Merseyside giants’ home following stints at Tottenham and Watford before joining Villarreal last year and has opened up on what it’s like to play at Anfield, saying ‘they just want to kill everyone’ for the entire match.
Villarreal midfielder Etienne Capoue has warned his team-mates that they face ‘hell’ tonight
The former Spurs and Watford midfielder opened up on what it’s like to play at Anfield
‘Anfield is hell, you have to say it how it is. It’s hell,’ Capoue told AFP.
‘It’s the worst stadium I’ve been to in England. Whether it’s the atmosphere, the way they play… For 90 minutes, you live in hell.
‘They have this ability to transcend themselves, to cause you nothing but problems, all the time, in any part of the field.
Capoue said Liverpool ‘just want to kill everyone’ for the entire match at their home ground
‘They never stop, they rush you all the time, they only want to score goals, and even when they score, they carry on. They want to knock you out.
‘They don’t care what or who is in front of them. They just want to kill everyone and that’s it.’
Villarreal have proved that they are no pushovers by beating Juventus and Bayern Munich to reach this stage of the competition and Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp vowed not the underestimate the LaLiga outfit.
Liverpool are bidding to win their seventh European Cup with their last triumph coming in 2019, following a sensational comeback win over Barcelona in the semi-finals.
Capoue celebrates after Villarreal beat Bayern Munich to reach Champions League semi-finals
The Reds looked to be heading out when trailing 3-0 to Barca from the first leg but, spurred on by an electric atmosphere at Anfield, they pulled off a remarkable 4-0 win to reach the final – and then went on to beat Tottenham.
Klopp promised to be at the ‘top of his game’ on the touchline as he called on fans to create a ‘similar atmosphere’ to that memorable night three years ago.
‘We need a similar atmosphere and a big performance. I need to be on top of my game, so do the boys, that is fine,’ he said in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
‘If a semi-final in this competition would be easy, something would be really wrong. I can’t wait for it, to be honest.’
Source: DailyMail Sports
