Mignolet: Villarreal were surprised by the atmosphere
Simon Mignolet insists the passion of the Liverpool supporters was too much for the Villarreal players to cope with as the Reds clinched their place in the Europa League final.
Jürgen Klopp’s charges fought back from a narrow first-leg defeat to beat the La Liga outfit 3-1 on aggregate.
The Reds now face a May 18 showpiece final trip to Basel where they will face another Spanish outfit, Sevilla.
Supporters lined the streets of Anfield Road to welcome the team coach on Thursday and the atmosphere inside Anfield reached fever pitch.
An own goal from Bruno Soriano drew the tie level before second-half goals from Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana ensured the Reds booked a trip to Switzerland.
Reflecting on an emotional night, Mignolet told Liverpoolfc.com: “We are very pleased. The atmosphere again inside the stadium, not only just from kick-off but from the moment we arrived to the end, it was a pretty special night again.
“Maybe they were surprised by the pressure the fans put on them as well. We know there is always something special possibly playing here [at Anfield], and we were just happy to do the job and get through to the final.
“We were very pleased with the performance and reaching the final which is what we wanted so hopefully we can do the same against Sevilla.”
The Belgian international made a crucial early stop when he dived full length to keep out a low drive from Mario Gaspar.
Wary of the threat an away goal for Villarreal could carry, Mignolet insists the back four deserve a lot of credit for a solid display.
“It was important (save) but if you see the way we defended we didn’t give any chances away and I think everybody did their job,” said Mignolet.
“We defended well on set-pieces, we got a clean sheet and that’s very positive as well because we knew if they had scored it would have been difficult, but we did well.
“The pressure was on but when you get these fans behind you we are playing with a 12th man and when they got a red card it made it easier as well.
“I think we dealt really good with the occasion, we played good football and didn’t give many chances away and scored at the right moments in the game as well.
“The third goal came in the last 10 minutes of the game which meant they couldn’t get back into it so it was a good night all round.”