Villarreal goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli has claimed that Liverpool are possibly the best team in the world at the moment.
Rulli was asked in his post-match press conference via BeanymanSports whether Liverpool are the most difficult team his side have played against in Europe this season.
Instead of giving a conclusive answer, the Argentinian pointed to the fact that The Reds are potentially the best team on the planet.
“We’re talking about Liverpool here, their stadium, 60,000 fans behind them and one of the best teams in the world – maybe the best team in the world at the moment,” said Rulli. “We’re going to be under pressure at times, aren’t we? We are going to suffer.”
Giving an honest review of Villarreal’s difficulties against Liverpool, Rulli insisted that the tie isn’t quite over just yet.
“In the second half I think they were better than us but we know what we have got to do and we want to show what we can do next week.”
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Toughest assignment yet for Villarreal
Unai Emery’s side have faced plenty of good teams on their Champions League journey this season. They famously dispatched European giants Juventus and Bayern Munich on the way to meeting Liverpool.
They also met an Atalanta side who beat Liverpool last season as well as Manchester United in the group stage.
Prior to last night, the only other team to get the better of them in this year’s competition was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United team. United actually beat them twice in the group.
However, one was via a last-gasp Cristiano Ronaldo winner, while the other was a 2-0 loss courtesy of two goals in the last 12 minutes.
Last night at Anfield was a different story. While Villarreal had more shots on goal than United in both of those losses, they had just one attempt to Liverpool’s 19 last night.
That is what you call complete dominance. Given their success against big teams this campaign, Jurgen Klopp may have been expecting a bit more from Emery’s players.
But there aren’t many teams who can deal with Liverpool’s relentless press. As Rulli says, with 60,000 Reds pushing Liverpool on at Anfield, there isn’t a more difficult game in European football right now.