Truth be told, Villarreal was battered by Liverpool in the first leg of their Champions League semifinals. The Cinderella story of this edition of the Champions League was destroyed by an in-form Liverpool squad. In 90 minutes at Anfield, Villarreal only had the ball 26% of the time and mustered up one shot, that was not even on target. Yet, there is hope in the small town of Villarreal that the second leg will be different. On that note, let's look at three bold Villarreal predictions for Champions League semifinals second leg vs Liverpool.

Bold Villarreal predictions for Champions League match v Liverpool 

Villarreal will play much better

The thing with Villarreal is very simple – they went to Anfield to either draw or lose by a single goal. Unfortunately for them, they did not end up doing either of these things, as two balls ended up in the back of the net. However, while their performance was abysmal, Liverpool still needed more than 50 minutes to score the first goal, which they would not have scored if Geronimo Rulli did not make a mistake. The second goal came a few minutes later, but Villarreal was completely void of any concentration after their gameplan fell through due to an unlucky bounce from Estupinan and poor estimation of the ball by Rulli.

However, it is also important to mention that Villarreal usually does not play like this. They are a very stable team with a ton of great midfielders and asking these guys to defend for the entire game, even if it is against Liverpool, was a tactical error by Unai Emery. We should not forget that this team went to the Bernabeu to play Real Madrid this season and was on equal footing with the Spanish giants for the entire game, unlucky not to grab a winner. Since they have to play a different style, we will see a Villarreal side that will look infinitely better than the first game.

Villarreal's midfield will have a huge impact on the game's proceedings 

Much has been said of the Villarreal run to the semifinals of the Champions League. They battled some seriously great teams and ended up victors, but many have not talked about the main reason why they are there – their midfield. Full of former EPL players, the Villarreal midfield has been playing amazingly this season, taking things into their own hands when the game is rough for the team. Unfortunately, due to the way Emery decided to set up versus Liverpool, we were unable to see how amazing they can really be. In this game, where Villarreal is expected to play much more offensively and even to take control of the game at times, their midfield stability should be more visible.

As said in our prediction for the first game, the midfield is where Villarreal win or lose games. The trio of Dani Parejo, Étienne Capoue, and Francis Coquelin really need to stamp their authority, but to do that, they need the ball in their feet a ton of the time. With the setup in the first game, they were basically outlets to get and punt the ball towards Liverpool's half of the field, rather than keep it and hold down possession. In the second game, it will be up to them to control possession for larger parts of the game, giving Villarreal a chance to actually win the game and progress to their first Champions League final in their history.

Villarreal will do the unthinkable and win the tie at their stadium

This is the season of comebacks, so why not predict another one? Of course, it is a daunting task that awaits the Yellow Submarine in the second leg of their Champions League semifinal. Liverpool is probably the strongest team in Europe right now and the way they played in the first leg was mesmerizing, especially the high press. However, as said above, this is a Champions League season of comebacks. Real Madrid did it twice, so Villarreal can somewhat hope for the same thing, or it should at least be in the back of their minds.

As mentioned, it will be a very tough task, but there is precedent to believe in the Spanish club. Villarreal played Bayern Munich at home in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinals and although it was just a 1-0 win, they should have won by at least two to three goals. Liverpool is stronger than Bayern, especially in this form, but a team that reaches the Champions League semifinals should never be underestimated. If they score an early goal, Villarreal has every right to hope for another one and a sensation that would break the world of football.