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Jurgen Klopp ecstatic to reach Champions League semis, and salutes Villarreal boss Unai Emery

firmino

Liverpool drew 3-3 with Benfica at Anfield to go through 6-4 on aggregate and set up a Champions League semi-final with Villarreal

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was delighted to progress following a six-goal thriller against Benfica, setting up a Champions League semi-final with Villarreal where he will go up against Unai Emery.

The German described Emery as "the king of the cups" but conceded he would not think about the semi-final until later this month with another clash with Manchester City to come on Saturday in the last four of the FA Cup.

"I'm really happy because being in a semi-final is so special," Klopp said. "We expect a couple of really difficult games. It will be a tough cookie but we are a tough cookie, so who cares?

"If I could go and analyse Villarreal now, it would be a little strange because what would I do when we play Benfica today and City at the weekend.

"I obviously saw the result, I saw last night and the game was very impressive. I have to say really good defending but who kicks out Juventus, who kicks out Bayern deserves to be in the semi-final and this is Villarreal.
"They are really good, they have an extremely experienced manager who is kind of the king of the cups. It is unbelievable what he is doing Unai. When we play them, we will be ready but give me a little bit of time to prepare properly."

Liverpool remain on for an historic quadruple after an amazing 3-3 draw at Anfield on Wednesday night with Firmino scoring a sweet double before the Portuguese visitors hit back twice to provide a late scare. 

Darwin Nunez was denied by Alisson as Benfica finished strongly but Liverpool held out to advance 6-4 on aggregate.

They now host Villarreal on April 27 six years after they beat them in the Europa League semi-finals before heading to Spain for the second leg.

Relieved skipper

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson looked ahead to a "very difficult tie" with Villarreal in the semi-finals.

"It was pretty comfortable but I think we will be really disappointed at the goals we conceded so plenty of stuff we can be better at," Henderson told BT Sport.
"Overall we knew it would be tough and 3-1, it is never over as we saw last night (in Real Madrid versus Chelsea) so we wanted to give everything, a lot of changes but we got through to the next round which was the most important thing."
Villarreal stand between Liverpool and another place in a Champions League final but the England international is taking nothing for granted.
Henderson added: "No, they are definitely not (a team to be taken lightly). They have beaten Juventus, Bayern, two very good sides so they are a very good team in their own right.
"It will be a very difficult tie, both legs, so we need to be 100 per cent ready. We need to give everything and hopefully we can progress to the final."
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