Four Players Remain From Liverpool And Villarreal's Previous European Semi-Final

Ahead of Liverpool's UEFA Champions League semi-final against Villarreal, we revisit their previous European semi which came back in 2016.

Liverpool will face Villarreal for a place in club soccer's most prestigious game.

Six-time European champions Liverpool and reigning Europa League winners Villarreal have met in a semi-final once before.

Their only previous meetings came in 2016 as Liverpool prevailed over two legs to reach the Europa League final, where they would lose to Sevilla.

Villarreal won the first 1-0 leg in Spain, before the Reds roared back with a 3-0 victory at Anfield to secure a 3-1 aggregate win.

This time around, the first leg of their Champions League semi-final will take place at Anfield on Wednesday April 27, six days before the contest concludes in Spain.

Ahead of those matches, we are taking a look back at Liverpool's last clash with Villarreal six years ago.

Liverpool 3-0 Villarreal

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

Villarreal XI: Areola, Mario, Musacchio, Ruiz, Costa, Pina, Dos Santos, Suarez, Soriano, Soldado, Bakambu

Scorers: Soriano OG, Daniel Sturridge, Adam Lallana

Sent off: Ruiz

Which Players Are Still There?

From Liverpool - Roberto Firmino and James Milner

There have been major changes at both clubs over the past six years, but Liverpool's manager remains the same.

Jurgen Klopp was just 210 days into his role as Reds boss when his side last played Villarreal.

Only two members of Klopp's 18-man squad from that game remain at the club. They are Roberto Firmino and James Milner.

Firmino and Milner played in both legs of Liverpool's quarter-final win over Benfica earlier this month. Firmino scored twice in the second leg to become just the fourth player to reach 20 Champions League goals for the club.

Liverpool's starting XI against Villarreal in their Europa League semi-final second leg at Anfield in May 2016 :: IMAGO/Colorsport/Andrew Cowie

From Villarreal - Mario and Manu Trigueros

Two players who started for Villarreal at Anfield back in May 2016 are still active members of their squad.

Right-back Mario has played 15 matches this season, while midfielder Manu Trigueros has made 38 appearances in all competitions.

Additionally, Sergio Asenjo was an unused substitute six years ago and he is still Villarreal's back-up goalkeeper.