Michael Owen has insisted that Luis Diaz now simply has to be in Jurgen Klopp’s starting eleven for Liverpool.
Speaking to BT Sport after the game, Owen claimed that he’d never seen a player adapt to another club as quickly as Diaz has to Liverpool.
“I’ve never seen a guy come in and hit the ground running like him,” said the former Reds striker. “To pick up the way Liverpool play straight away like he has is incredible. And now there is no question about it, he’s a starter.”
Klopp has so far rotated Diaz in and out of the Liverpool team. But such was his impact on Tuesday night that he’s made himself impossible to ignore.
Jota in the firing line
There was some surprise to see Diogo Jota start ahead of Diaz at the Estadio de la Ceramica last night.
Jota has gone off the boil a little of late, and Diaz has hardly skipped a beat when playing. But Jurgen trusted the man who’s bagged 21 goals this season.
It proved to be the wrong decision. Jota was barely involved as The Reds struggled to do the basics. In truth, it could have been any of the starting eleven who were hauled off with Liverpool 2-0 down and in real danger of elimination.
It could also be that Diaz was the beneficiary of Villarreal’s dropping energy levels. Maybe had he started the game he would have struggled just as much as the man he replaced.
As it was, the Colombian was the name on everyone’s lips as the night ended with Liverpool qualifying for a tenth European Cup/Champions League final.
Decisions to be made for Paris
There are still five games to play before the showpiece in Paris on May 28th. What happens between now and then will have some bearing on the tight calls Klopp has to make for the team he sends out in the French capital.
Much of his team is set in stone, with potentially only three places up for grabs.
Klopp will have to decide who partners Virgil Van Dijk in the defence, who gets the nod between Jordan Henderson and Naby Keita, and maybe most crucially of all, who joins Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah in the Liverpool forward line.
In Owen’s mind, and in the mind’s of many supporters no doubt, last night just removed all doubt about the latter.
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