Andoni Iraola and Iñigo Pérez parked a long and close friendship in the buildup to their first competitive confrontation as coaches. The old Athletic Bilbao teammates will have a humdinger of a Champions League contest to dissect once communications are restored. Liverpool, ignited by Rio Ngumoha, recovered from two goals down against Villarreal to maintain their 100% record plus their gathering momentum.
Alexis Mac Allister struck twice, Florian Wirtz capped recent improvement with his first goal of the season while Liverpool were dreadful for the opening 30 minutes, transformed after the break and fretting in stoppage time after Tani Oluwaseyi had volleyed in a third for Villarreal. The game flipped on Sergi Cardona’s mistake and Ronald Araújo’s equaliser with the final touch of the first half. “We weren’t able to handle the emotion tonight,” conceded Villarreal coach Pérez.
