Richard Keys hails Aston Villa as he blasts Liverpool announcement in scathing message
Richard Keys has praised Aston Villa for progressing in Europe but has also slammed Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool crashed out against Atalanta.
The Villans are in their first European semi-final since 1982 under Unai Emery’s guidance after they won on penalties away against Lille.
Villa became the only English side to advance through the quarter-finals after West Ham United and Liverpool dropped out of the Europa League on Thursday (18 April).
In a post to X, Keys shared a positive sentiment for Villa and suggested that the Reds manager’s statement has negatively affected their form.
He said: “It’s such a shame that our clubs have done so badly this past week but congrats to Aston Villa. Let’s hope they go on & win it now. Emery has done a fantastic job.
“Sadly it’s beginning to look as though Klopp’s ill-judged announcement has killed Liverpool not lifted them.”
Could Aston Villa win the Conference League?
The Villans have not made things easy for themselves after going all the way to penalties against Lille. It was a close-fought game which the home side arguably had the best of.
It didn’t matter in the end as Emi Martinez’s penalty heroics were enough to secure a place in the final four.
With them in the latter stages of the competition are Club Brugge, Fiorentina and Olympiakos who Villa play next.
The Greek outfit are fourth in the league and are six points off the top of the league, not the most stern of opposition. What makes them a threat is the atmosphere their fans will bring which will certainly intimidate the Villa players.
If Villa can get past the Red and Whites then a final back in Athens once again will await. Fiorentina are 10th in Serie A while Brugge are third in Belgium.
On paper, Villa should have a breeze to the final but that isn’t how football works so anything could still happen.
In other Aston Villa news, transfer interest in Emi Martinez will “never go away” as a “big money” Villa Park exit has been mooted
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