Francis Coquelin pays Liverpool the ultimate compliment - but makes Villarreal vow

Liverpool face Villarreal in the Champions League semi-final first leg at Anfield on Wednesday night.
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Francis Coquelin has hailed Liverpool as the best team in Europe as Villarreal bid for a huge upset.

The Reds welcome the La Liga outfit to Anfield in the Champions League semi-final first leg tomorrow night (20.00).

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Jurgen Klopp's side are heavy favourites heading into the tie. They sit second in the Premier League and are still battling for an unprecedented quadruple.

Villarreal, meanwhile languish seventh in La Liga.

However, Unai Emery's outfit pulled off a seismic shock in the quarter-finals when they knocked out German superpowers Bayern Munich.

Now Villarreal - whose side is littered with former Premier League players including Coquelin, ex-Reds defender Alberto Moreno, Serge Aurier, Étienne Capoue and Giovani Lo Celso - aim for another giant-killing.

Coquelin, who won two FA Cups during a 10-year spell with Arsenal, is wary of the challenge the Yellow Submarine face.

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But he insists the visitors are not travelling to Anfield for a stadium tour.

What’s been said

The French midfielder told the Guardian: “Liverpool are probably the team that press best. I can’t really see where their weaknesses are.

“They attack so well and now they have [Ibrahima] Konaté competing with [Joël] Matip. The left-back and the right-back are like strikers basically.

“They have two players who fight for Ballon d’Or, [Mohamed] Salah and [Sadio] Mané. Now they’ve signed Luis Díaz and he settles in like he has been there five years.

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“They’re the best team in Europe but, as a footballer, what do you want? To play this sort of game, travel around Europe. We have a dream in the back of our heads to play a Champions League final.

“We know it’s tough but the whole team, the whole town, is excited. It’s difficult but we’ve got confidence.

“We knocked out Bayern Munich and Juventus and we’re going there to compete. We’re not going there just to look at Anfield.”