Champions League: Liverpool prepared to suffer against Villarreal

Liverpool FC has one foot in the UEFA Champions League final after securing a 2-0 advantage over Villarreal in the first leg of their semi-final clash. However, manager Jurgen Klopp is not being overconfident as they head to the Ceramica Stadium on Tuesday night.

"We will have to suffer and we will have to be ready to suffer and we will have to sit back in moments, definitely, but not as a general approach. So, let's see," said Klopp in his pre-match press conference.

He added that while his team are aware of the cushion, they also know that things can go wrong very quickly for them. Unai Emery's men will be playing in front of their home crowd, and will surely be prepared to throw everything at them.

"The problem in our job is everything is perfect until this moment I'm sitting here and now the next game we start on the wrong foot or whatever and all of a sudden the game gets a different dynamic," he said.

Indeed, a 2-goal advantage can still go the wrong way, as experienced by both Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea FC against Real Madrid earlier this season. Villarreal may now be two goals down, but they did not fluke their way into the semi-finals. The Yellow Submarine are more than capable of staging a massive comeback, and Klopp knows that his side must be ready.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid are also looking to stage a comeback against Manchester City in the other semi-final clash. The Sky Blues have a narrow one goal advantage after winning the first leg 4-3. The Premier League sides currently have the opportunity to make it an all-English final for the second year in a row, but the La Liga teams will be doing everything in their power to prevent that.

Villarreal will host Liverpool on Tuesday, with the match between newly-crowned La Liga champions Real Madrid and Manchester City taking place the following evening at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.