Villarreal 1-0 Liverpool: Uefa Europa League semi-final - as it happened

That is all for this particular blog, but stay tuned to IBTimes UK for post-match reaction from El Madrigal. Our live football coverage returns at the weekend with a whole host of Premier League fixtures including Arsenal vs Norwich and Leicester's potentially title-clinching trip to Manchester United.

We will also bring you that clash between Swansea and Liverpool in addition to a London derby between Chelsea and Tottenham on Monday evening.

Goodbye for now.

Sevilla were not at their best against Shakhtar and quickly found themselves trailing despite taking an early lead. That Gameiro penalty really appears to have turned the semi-final in their favour, however, and Emery's side will be increasingly confident of a third consecutive Europa League triumph.

A bitter late pill to swallow for Liverpool, who would likely have been very content indeed to return to Anfield with a 0-0 scoreline. The tie is certainly not beyond them by any means, although they are now vulnerable to an away goal. That result is likely to leave many wondering why Klopp neglected to use Sturridge or Benteke earlier.

The Reds travel to Swansea on Sunday before the second leg on Merseyside in one week's time. Villarreal, meanwhile, will hope to strengthen their grip on fourth place even further with a short trip to Valencia.

Full-time

Villarreal 1-0 Liverpool

Shakhtar Donetsk 2-2 Sevilla

A late yellow card for Srna in Ukraine, where Shakhtar may have carelessly tossed away their chances of a first Europa League final since 2009.

Villarreal have won it in the final throes of injury time. After Moreno is caught out of possession, Toure cannot cut out a long pass. Suarez comes forward and plays the ball across for Lopez, who taps home from close range. Mignolet appeals in vain for an offside flag.

What a sucker punch for Liverpool.

Goal: Villarreal 1-0 Liverpool (Adrian Lopez)

As the clock hits 90 minutes, Shakhtar boss Mircea Lucescu rather bizarrely makes a triple substitution.

Banega looks to add a third goal for Sevilla, but his effort deflects off the head of Rakitskiy and wide.

Benteke replaces Firmino for Liverpool as we enter three minutes of additional time. Four to be played in Lviv.

A crucial late save from Mignolet to thwart Bakambu after the DR Congo striker was played in by Suarez. Moreno then shows incredible pace and surges forward on the counter before firing over.

Moments after N'Zonzi is very fortunate to escape punishment after a heated clash with Stepanenko at a corner, Sevilla pull level from the penalty spot after Vitolo is brought down by a needless sliding tackle from one-time Newcastle loanee Facundo Ferreyra.

Gameiro steps up to smash home his seventh strike in eight matches. Sevilla will surely be favourites to progress now with two away goals.

Goal: Shakhtar Donetsk 2-2 Sevilla (Kevin Gameiro)

How have Sevilla not equalised? Vitolo drifts beyond Rakitskiy too easily and squares it for Gameiro, but somehow Oleksandr Kucher is able to clear off the line.

Gameiro is played in again by Banega, but this time he blazes over under considerable pressure. Srna then produces a peach of a cross at the other end but Sevilla survive.

Sevilla think they have equalised in Ukraine when Kevin Gameiro turns home Vitolo's low cross from close range, only to be denied by a questionable offside flag.

An injury to Bailly leads Marcelino to use his third and final substitution. Musacchio comes on.

Excellent defending from Bailly to cut out an inviting cross but his second header almost leads to a chance. Villarreal make two changes in quick succession, bringing on Castillejo and Adrian Lopez for Jonathan and Soldado.

Ugly scenes in Lviv, where substitute Krohn-Dehli writhes in agony after his knee appeared to pop out of place. That looks very nasty indeed and he receives immediate treatment before being carted off. Coke is on in his place.

Soldado thinks that Toure should be in hot water for a perceived high boot. No booking follows and the ex-Tottenham man takes matters into his own hands by scything down Lucas.

Klopp and Marcelino exchange angry words on the touchline after a robust collision between Pina and Lucas. The referee goes over to calm things down and both managers shake hands with a smile.

Liverpool have really lacked a central attacking threat tonight, but they almost take the lead when the otherwise ineffective Firmino collects a pass from Milner and produces a dangerous low shot that is pushed onto the post by Asenjo. Close.

Krohn-Dehli has made a real impact since coming on for Sevilla and a powerful low drive forces Pyatov into a save.

In Spain, Costa receives treatment after being caught with an accidental stray arm to the face while creeping up on Lovren. Milner also stands firm to snuff out the threat of Suarez.

Costa is booked for Villarreal after a heavy sliding challenge that fells Clyne. Soldado then gives the ball away in his own half but Firmino's cross is headed away by centre-back Eric Bailly.

With almost an hour played, Sevilla boss Unai Emery makes his first change by replacing Yevhen Konoplyanka with Michael Krohn-Dehli.

He is immediately in the thick of the action and N'Zonzi heads wide.

Pyatov has not had a great deal to do tonight other than pick the ball out of the back of the net following Vitolo's early opener. On this occasion, he springs to his right to push Carrico's hopeful shot wide.

Villarreal make inroads into the Liverpool penalty area. Soldado declines to let fly and instead finds Mario, who blazes a shot over from a tricky angle.

Shakhtar, not for the first time tonight, look to pick out the run of Marlos but former Blackburn and Stoke midfielder Steven N'Zonzi stretches out a long leg to block.

Villarreal start the second half on the front foot and quickly earn themselves a corner. Jonathan goes over to take it and his ball to the near post evades Lallana before being headed onto the outside of the post and wide by Bakambu.

Klopp has made one substitution at the break, but it's not Sturridge or Benteke. Jordon Ibe is on for Coutinho.

Both games are now back underway. No changes in Lviv.

Things are far more lively out east, where Sevilla looked on course for a rare and valuable away victory but trail at the break after being put under considerable pressure by Shakhtar's talented front unit. More goals to come in that one, you feel.

Not too much to shout about in Spain, where it's been something of a cagey affair between two committed sides. Bruno has been the best player on the pitch by a considerable distance, while Liverpool are seeing plenty of the ball out wide but do not possess a consistent threat in the middle. Surely we will see either Sturridge or Benteke sooner rather than later.

Half-time

Villarreal 0-0 Liverpool

Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 Sevilla

One minute of added time to be played at El Madrigal. Two minutes signalled in Lviv.

Sevilla's Daniel Carrico, once of Reading, is cautioned for a high boot.

Villarreal go close and impressive skipper Bruno is again the architect as he feeds Soldado, who shoots around Toure and wide of Mignolet's left-hand post.

Alert defending from Toure to cut out Mario's cross after the Spaniard was neatly played in by Bruno. His shot on the rebound is also blocked before Coutinho fires over at the other end. Still goalless.

Shakhtar are rampant at the moment, with the likes of Taison and Marlos causing all sorts of issues with their pace and trickery. After a short corner, the latter bamboozles his marker before producing an excellent near-post cross that is powered home by the head of Ukraine midfielder Stepanenko.

Goal: Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 Sevilla (Taras Stepanenko)

Both sides are getting a lot of width at El Madrigal, but no-one is really threatening just at the moment. Costa stays down after receiving a painful blow during a challenge from Clyne.

Coutinho takes a shot that is miles off target, while Shakhtar's Taison intercepts a rogue clearance and beats Vitolo before blasting just wide.

A crucial interception from Mariano then stops Marlos picking out his compatriot after a wonderful mazy run.

A first yellow card of the evening is awarded to Sergio Escudero for a late lunge on wily Shakhtar captain Darijo Srna.

Villarreal have a real injury concern as Jonathan clutches his lower leg in considerable pain after an aerial battle with Moreno. Samu warms up while his teammate receives treatment.

Sevilla have dropped deeper and deeper since taking the lead and inviting pressure eventually leads to a Shakhtar equaliser. Marlos controls Rakitskiy's searching long ball with his chest and, unchecked by any defender, proceeds to curl the ball beyond Soria and into the bottom corner.

Goal: Shakhtar Donetsk 1-1 Sevilla (Marlos)

Liverpool are at sixes and sevens at the back, but somehow they survive when Pina's shot is parried by Mignolet and his follow-up attempt is blocked by Lucas.

Brazilian left-back Ismaily poses a real threat for Shakhtar with a lung-busting run, but his dangerous ball in does not quite fall for another orange and black shirt and that allows Grzegorz Krychowiak to hack clear. Marlos then tests David Soria with an accurate long-range shot.

A clearing header from Mario Gaspar goes only as far as Lucas, who tries his luck with an ambitious drive that fizzes harmlessly over the crossbar. More pressing leads to a similar chance for Lallana, but his effort flies well wide.

Suarez just embarrassed Allen with a terrific little nutmeg. Villarreal are doing most of the early running here.

Liverpool are looking a little sluggish at the moment. Bruno Soriano chips a clever free-kick into the path of Soldado, who takes a good touch on his right foot before lashing a shot just wide of the post.

Sevilla have been wretched away from the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan this term, but they have already bagged a crucial early goal in Ukraine. A ruthless counter attack ends with Spanish winger Vitolo cutting inside Yaroslav Rakitskiy and sliding the ball through the legs of Pyatov.

Goal: Shakhtar Donetsk 0-1 Sevilla (Vitolo)

Liverpool produce their first opportunity as Alberto Moreno's cross from the right flank is deflected into the path of Joe Allen, but the Welsh midfielder can only fire straight at Sergio Asenjo.

An early chance for Sevilla as they force their first corner, but Ever Banega's in-swinging delivery is far too close to Andriy Pyatov and the experienced goalkeeper can easily claim.

At El Madrigal, Villarreal launch a first attack but Simon Mignolet easily stops a shot from Jonathan before cutting out a cross from former Manchester City and Barcelona youngster Denis Suarez that was intended for Bakambu.

Both matches are now off and running.

Five minutes until we are underway in both Villarreal and Lviv. All four teams will hope to be present at the 2015-16 Europa League final, which takes place at Basel's St. Jakob-Park on Wednesday 18 May.

One player who is not injured for Liverpool but cannot play is Mamadou Sakho. The French centre-back, who scored the third goal in that 4-3 victory over Dortmund, has been provisionally suspended by Uefa for 30 days after failing a doping test.

He has been made unavailable for selection by his club while the possible violation is being investigated.

Marcelino, meanwhile, acknowledges that his side do not begin the tie as favourites and knows that Villarreal will have to find a way to counteract Liverpool's pressing game.

Liverpool may be favourites rather than us because of their history and the fact they have knocked out Borussia Dortmund, who along with Sevilla were favourites to win the competition. But we do not consider ourselves to be worse than them and we will do everything to eliminate them.

They are a very good team, with many extraordinary players. They play a very intense style and have a great counter-attack. They press very high and will not let us play easily. We need to find solutions to overcome that first line of pressure. If we get it we will take a great step [towards the final]. We can say that we have a similar style than them.

Klopp is aware of the considerable threat posed by Villarreal and will be under no illusions as to the size of the task that awaits his side tonight.

This is the highest level of football, [as] Villarreal shows each week. Big form in the Spanish league, playing with such good balance, very good structure in the game, very disciplined, good defending, good counter-attacks - if you let them, they play football.

It's everything you need to be a good team and for a club in a small city in Spain that's great. They have made a lot of good decisions to be here and we should not hope that they will make only wrong decisions tomorrow. We have to be prepared for our best game and that's what we try to do.

[quotes via the official Liverpool website]

Here is the team news ahead of this evening's other semi-final:

Shakhtar Donetsk: Pyatov, Srna, Kucher, Rakitskyy, Ismaily, Malyshev, Stepanenko, Marlos, Kovalenko, Taison, Ferreyra

Subs: Kanibolotskyi, Ordets, Shevchuk, Orsets, Wellington Nem, Bernard, Eduardo

Sevilla: Soria, Mariano, Rami, Carrico, Escudero, N'Zonzi, Krychowiak, Konoplyanka, Banega, Vitolo, Gameiro

Subs: Rico, Kolodziejczak, Coke, Krohn-Dehli, Iborra, Cristoforo, Llorente

30 minutes remaining until kick-off.

Much was made of Benteke's inclusion in the travelling squad, although a starting berth appeared unlikely given that he has not played for over a month due to a knee problem.

With Divock Origi sidelined courtesy an ankle injury sustained following a dreadful challenge from Ramiro Funes Mori in last week's Merseyside derby, Sturridge might have been expected to lead the line after scoring four times in his last five appearances.

Knee and ankle ligament injuries sideline midfielders Jordan Henderson and Emre Can, while long-term absentees Ings, Joe Gomez and Jordan Rossiter are still out.

As for the hosts, Jaume Costa returns at left-back ahead of Antonio Rukavina. Jonathan dos Santos, younger brother of Los Angeles Galaxy forward Giovani, replaces Samu Castillejo. Bakambu is partnered in the final third by Tottenham flop Roberto Soldado. Leo Baptistao is out and Mateo Musacchio is only fit enough for the bench.

Klopp makes three changes from the weekend, with Nathaniel Clyne replacing Connor Randall at right-back and Lucas Leiva in for Kevin Stewart.

Philippe Coutinho also gets the nod ahead of Sturridge, who is listed as a substitute alongside the fit-again Christian Benteke. Roberto Firmino will presumably be deployed as a false 9. Sheyi Ojo drops out of the squad altogether and his place on the bench is taken by 18-year-old Spanish midfielder Pedro Chirivella.

Villarreal: Asenjo, Mario, Bailly, Victor Ruiz, Jaume Costa, Dos Santos, Pina, Bruno, Suarez, Soldado, Bakambu

Subs: Areola, Musacchio, Rukavina, Samu, Trigueros, Castillejo, Lopez

Liverpool: Mignolet, Clyne, Toure, Lovren, Moreno, Lucas, Allen, Milner, Lallana, Coutinho, Firmino

Subs: Ward, Skrtel, Smith, Chirivella, Ibe, Benteke, Sturridge

Official team news to come very shortly...

While we await team news from tonight's matches, news broke a little earlier on that the Professional Football Compensation Committee (PFCC) have ruled that Liverpool must pay Burnley up to £8m following the signing of striker Danny Ings in June 2015.

The player was out of contract at the time, but his age - 23 - meant that the Championship promotion hopefuls were entitled to compensation. An agreement could not be reached, however, leading to a lengthy tribunal.

In a statement to confirm the decision, Liverpool said:

Liverpool Football Club would like to thank the PFCC panel for their time and diligence in deciding this matter.

We believe the process was conducted fairly and we respect the outcome. We are pleased for Danny Ings, in particular, that this chapter is now complete and he can look forward to a long and successful career at Liverpool.

Burnley chief executive David Baldwin added:

We acknowledge and accept the tribunal's decision. We feel we must reiterate this is an unprecedented record payment for training compensation and not a transfer fee.

As the initial fee decided by the committee represents almost double the previous record for a tribunal, this fully justifies our decision to press ahead with what we felt was a fair reflection of the part Burnley Football Club played in Danny's development.

The fee eclipses the previous record compensation price of £3.5m, which Chelsea were made to pay Manchester City for Sturridge back in 2009. The deal includes a £6.5m payment up front and a further £1.5m in performance related add-ons in addition to a clause entitling the Clarets to 20% of any future profit from the sale of Ings.

In contrast to the Champions League, its sister competition insists on both semi-final matches being played on the same night and, it seems, at the same time.

So while Villarreal and Liverpool are battling for supremacy, at the Arena Lviv in western Ukraine Sevilla will continue their quest for a third straight Europa League crown and a fourth overall against the relocated Shakhtar Donetsk.

Villarreal currently sit fourth in La Liga, 20 points adrift of third-place Real Madrid and four ahead of Celta Vigo following a stalemate against Real Sociedad. Marcelino's side made short work of Sparta Prague in the quarter-finals, with Spain's signing of the season Cedric Bakambu notching consecutive braces in a comprehensive 6-3 aggregate triumph.

The Yellow Submarine, beaten by Arsenal in the Champions League semi-finals a decade ago thanks to a first-leg winner from Kolo Toure and a last-gasp penalty save from Jens Lehmann to deny Juan Roman Riquelme, also knocked out Bayer Leverkusen and Napoli en route to this stage. They both lost to and finished second behind Rapid Vienna during the groups.

Tonight will be the first competitive meeting between these two teams, although they did labour to a goalless draw in a pre-season friendly back in 2008.

After such an emotional few days, Liverpool return to action tonight for the first leg of their Europa League semi-final against Villarreal at the quaint Estadio El Madrigal in Castellon.

This is the Reds' first appearance in the last four of Europe's secondary club competition since 2010, when an extra-time away goal courtesy of Atletico Madrid's Diego Forlan ended any hope of an all-English final against Fulham in Hamburg.

The 2001 winners, held to a draw by relegation-threatened Newcastle United on Saturday despite first-half efforts from Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana, booked their place in this tie thanks to a truly thrilling aggregate victory over Jurgen Klopp's former employers Borussia Dortmund. Tied at 1-1 after the first match, they twice trailed by two clear goals in the return fixture before Dejan Lovren's late winner sparked sheer pandemonium on Merseyside.

Such a victory came after Liverpool had seen off rivals Manchester United and Augsburg in the first two knockout rounds. They originally finished top of Group B, ahead of Sion, Rubin Kazan and Bordeaux.

A game of football seems so trivial and unimportant in comparison to other events involving Liverpool this week.

On Tuesday, the 27-year wait for truth and justice of the families and friends of those who died in the Hillsborough disaster was finally ended as the jury in the United Kingdom's longest-running inquest ruled that those 96 supporters were unlawfully killed.

The decision came almost three-and-a-half years after the original verdicts were quashed by the High Court.