Jurgen Klopp signed a contract extension with Liverpool on Thursday.

The new paperwork will keep the popular manager at Anfield until 2026, according to The Athletic’s David Ornstein.

Assistants Pepijn Lijnders and Peter Krawietz also committed to longer terms with the club. Klopp and his coaching team were contracted until 2024.

“There are so many words I could use to describe how I am feeling about this news … delighted, humbled, blessed, privileged, and excited would be a start,” Klopp said.

The 54-year-old German was tipped to leave Merseyside and take a sabbatical after the 2023-24 season. However, he’s revised his plans while the Reds pursue an unprecedented quadruple of the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, and Champions League.

He’s also reinvigorated his squad over the past two seasons in a bid to maintain a successful era for Liverpool. Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota have strengthened the strikeforce and will soon be complemented by 19-year-old attacking midfielder Fabio Carvalho, who arrives from Fulham in the summer. Defender Ibrahima Konate, 22, has also had a strong first year with Liverpool.

In addition to Liverpool’s youthful recruits, first-team regulars Trent Alexander-Arnold, Harvey Elliott, and Curtis Jones are all aged 23 or younger.

“There is a freshness about us as a club still and this energizes me,” Klopp continued. “For as long as I have been here, our owners have been unbelievably committed and energetic about this club and it is clear that right now this applies to our future as much as I’ve ever known.”

Liverpool are potentially eight matches away from the quadruple. They’re one point adrift of first-placed Manchester City with five matches left in the Premier League season and face Chelsea in next month’s FA Cup final. The Reds also hold a two-goal advantage heading into next week’s second leg of their Champions League semifinal with Villarreal.

Liverpool beat Chelsea on penalties in the League Cup final in February.

The Champions League semifinals kicked off in thrilling fashion this week. Below, we dissect the biggest talking points from the first legs in Europe’s premier club competition.

Villarreal falter in ‘hell’

Villarreal’s Etienne Capoue already knew it from his days in midfield for Tottenham Hotspur and Watford. He wasn’t sure what the exact reasons were – he suggested it was maybe the atmosphere or perhaps Liverpool’s suffocating play – but Capoue knew he didn’t enjoy trips to the Merseyside club’s fortress.

“Anfield is hell, you have to say it how it is. It’s hell,” Capoue said at the pre-match press conference.

His fears were realized as some of his teammates made uncharacteristic lapses under Anfield’s floodlights during Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat.

Villarreal deployed Francis Coquelin, who faced Liverpool seven times during his Arsenal days, to the left of a conservative midfield, no doubt intending to throw additional obstacles in right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold’s way. But he appeared panicked when Alexander-Arnold drifted inside and Jordan Henderson occupied a wide position. Coquelin either ended up marking nobody or redundantly doubling up on a Liverpool player.

Coquelin’s own indecision froze him when Thiago Alcantara slipped the ball to Alexander-Arnold in the middle in the 28th minute. The Frenchman had to act fast. In his desperation, he strangely ran behind Alexander-Arnold, rather than goal side of his opponent, and dragged the Liverpool man down.

It was a needless free-kick to give away just 25 yards from goal.

Villarreal committed errors elsewhere that clashed with the studied way they approached other knockout matches through their miracle Champions League run. Visiting ‘keeper Geronimo Rulli couldn’t get a meaningful touch on the ball, weakly flapping at crosses and shots to help Liverpool maintain pressure. Similar to Coquelin, Rulli made reckless decisions, like when he surged out to collect the ball during the second half and was easily beaten to it by Luis Diaz.

Mundo Deportivo’s Sergio Escario surmised in his post-match analysis that Rulli didn’t exude any confidence.

Villarreal will need more composure in the home comforts of El Madrigal next week if they have any chance of turning this tie around. Members of the Yellow Submarine’s crew got burned in hellish Anfield.

Emery refuses to change tack

There’s nothing inherently wrong with committing to a defensive style of play. There are various ways to win matches, all of them valid. Not every team can – or, frankly, should – play like Liverpool or Manchester City. Winning, ugly or not, is still winning. And the conservative approach has clearly worked wonders thus far for Unai Emery and Villarreal. They sent Juventus and Bayern Munich packing in previous rounds using risk-averse tactics similar to those employed Wednesday at Anfield.

However, the issue is that this strategy gives you no room for error. One mistake, one tiny lapse in concentration, or even an unlucky deflection that you can’t legislate for, and all your work is undone. Villarreal avoided those hazards earlier in the competition. But that run of defensive excellence and good fortune ended when Henderson’s cross in the 53rd minute ricocheted off Pervis Estupinan’s outstretched leg and wrong-footed Rulli. The netminder tried to contort himself, but, with his weight shifting to his right side, his left arm flapped toward the ball in vain.

On another night – or in a previous round – his fingertips may have been enough to divert the ball over the bar. This time it nestled into the net.

When Sadio Mane, who was onside by an inch, doubled the lead two minutes later, the contest was effectively over. On another night, the Senegalese star may have been narrowly on the wrong side of the defender, and the goal would have been ruled out. Such are the margins.

Villarreal, down 2-0, never came out of the shell they hoped would stymie the Premier League giants from the opening whistle.

The Yellow Submarine finished the match with just three touches inside the Liverpool penalty area. They didn’t register a shot on target.

Liverpool, relentless as ever, simply needed to maintain composure, keep tilting the field with their ferocious press, and trust that the process – and pressure – would pay off. It did, and now the Reds are on the brink of a third Champions League final in five seasons.

Emery, meanwhile, is stuck. Going toe-to-toe with Liverpool is a surefire way to get blown out of the water. But meekly accepting your fate in the second leg – at home, no less – isn’t how anyone wants to bow out.

“The 2-0 is a clear, deserved result. It could have been even worse but we still have a chance,” the Villarreal boss said after the match. “I want to show we are capable of playing a different game at home.”

Underdogs rarely pass semifinal hurdle

Liverpool overpowered their Spanish rivals, pressing them into submission over 90 minutes of domineering football. The hosts outshot Villarreal 19-1 Wednesday, just as Bayern Munich outchanced them 45-16 over two quarterfinal legs. Juventus did the same in the round of 16, firing 21 shots to Villarreal’s 17. Emery’s underdogs played composed, ruthless football to reach the Champions League semifinals, but the defensive tactics that got them there ultimately proved to be their undoing.

Villarreal couldn’t play through Liverpool’s press or win aerial duels, and they couldn’t keep the ball for more than a few seconds at a time. Conceding possession to Jurgen Klopp’s turbo-charged outfit is never a good idea. They’re much sharper than Bayern and Juventus, and they’ll eventually do something good with the ball if they get it.

Few underdog sides make the final this way. The secret is out by the time they reach the semis.

There’s just too much evidence to get caught off-guard in the latter rounds. Schalke’s fairytale run ended in the semifinals in 2011. After beating Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City, AS Monaco lost steam in 2017 and fell to Juventus. Ajax lost their composure in 2019, and RB Leipzig and Lyon hit dead ends in 2020.

Villarreal appear to be suffering the same fate. That’s because Liverpool did their homework. Villarreal’s players blasted Bayern for being too arrogant, and the Premier League giants heeded the warning.

“We face a very difficult opponent,” Klopp said before the match. “They are made for this competition, to be 100% honest. The way they set it up is really good. There might have been a little advantage in the last two games, maybe Juve or Bayern underestimated them, but that will never happen to us.”

Here are the main talking points from Tuesday’s breathless match …

Real Madrid embrace the chaos

Real Madrid conceded twice in the first 11 minutes of Tuesday’s Champions League semifinal first leg at Manchester City and capitulated again eight minutes after the interval. They allowed the first goal in three of the four knockout matches that preceded the topsy-turvy contest at the Etihad Stadium, and yet, they progressed each time.

Madrid responded on Tuesday as well. Karim Benzema produced an unbelievable touch to make it 2-1, Vinicius Junior ran unabated to make it 3-2, and Benzema’s beautifully executed Panenka made it 4-3. Madrid didn’t play well at all – City could’ve scored another three or four goals – but they again found success amid chaos. Two pieces of individual brilliance kept them in the game, and a penalty kick kept them in the tie, but it felt like Madrid enjoyed the contest more than City did. Every time City scored, Madrid had an answer.

In previous matches, Madrid needed a substitution or two to spring back to life. But manager Carlo Ancelotti didn’t do much to influence Tuesday’s encounter. He just allowed Madrid’s best players to do their thing. Benzema hurried to take a corner kick, Toni Kroos and Dani Carvajal sent in dangerous free-kicks and crosses, and Luka Modric surged into the penalty area. They wanted to find the quickest way into the final 18 yards, and they did. It was all instinct, a phenomenon of muscle memory.

“I have a squad who knows these types of games very well, knows what has happened, and knows what can happen,” Ancelotti said earlier this month, according to The Athletic’s Dermot Corrigan.

Los Blancos are still fighting in this competition because their players have such a sense of occasion, such opportunistic qualities, and such a pedigree in the Champions League that no game ever seems lost. Just imagine how good they’d be if they didn’t need to fight back in the first place.

City tend to panic in Champions League

Manchester City’s short history in the competition reads like a drama. It’s unusual: City rarely break stride in the Premier League, showing few nerves, but as soon as the Champions League anthem rings out, they take on a different personality. It’s true that Pep Guardiola, one of the greatest managers of all time, routinely overthinks European matches, but that’s not what happened on Tuesday. The pressure of expectation is the culprit here, not any tactical oversight.

Benzema said it best afterward, per Mirror Football’s Colin Millar: “It’s confidence, nothing more. It’s all mental.”

Add the whacky 4-3 win over Madrid to the 6-6 defeat on away goals to Monaco in 2017, the 4-4 defeat on away goals to Tottenham Hotspur in 2019, and the 3-1 shocker at the hands of Lyon in 2020. City have been all over the place in this competition, and that’s why they’ve failed thus far to win it.

In reality, City created enough chances to ice the semifinal tie on Tuesday. They could’ve had a multi-goal cushion heading into next week’s second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, which, given Madrid’s seeming immortality, could’ve come in handy. Instead, Oleksandr Zinchenko narrowly missed wide, Riyad Mahrez hit the post, and Aymeric Laporte shot straight at Thibaut Courtois from six yards away.

Now the Premier League champions need to approach the second leg with caution. They have it within themselves to play a more reserved game. They’ve used possession as a form of defense against Liverpool – and came away with decent results. It’s time for City to be pragmatic. They’re ahead on aggregate, and all they have to do is keep it that way.

Fernandinho giveth and taketh away

Real Madrid’s plan of attack was painfully obvious on Tuesday.

With Guardiola facing a full-back shortage through a combination of injury (Kyle Walker) and suspension (Joao Cancelo), the Spanish strategist was forced to deputize John Stones at right-back, despite admitting before the match that the Englishman, a central defender by trade, was also a “doubt” due to an undisclosed muscle issue.

Vinicius sought to take full advantage down his left wing; Madrid made a concerted effort to attack Stones before his injury flared up and forced him to leave the pitch in the 36th minute. Fernandinho, the 36-year-old midfielder, took his place. There was no classic Guardiola tinkering this time. The veteran slotted right into Stones’ vacated spot. What choice did Pep have, really?

The decision seemed inspired when Fernandinho left Vinicius sliding on his backside with his first touch of the match and even better when, early in the second half, he lofted a sumptuous cross onto Phil Foden’s head to help City grab what was then a commanding 3-1 advantage.

He then proceeded to undo his good work almost immediately, falling – quite horribly – for a wicked dummy near the touchline. Vinicius, who in his sleep could beat his compatriot in a sprint, turned on a dime and raced roughly 60 yards after the nutmeg, eventually slotting home a sensational goal.

He’s not the first player to get posterized by the electrifying young winger, but his midfield instincts came back to bite him in this instance. In the center of the pitch, often a congested area, if you try to jump a pass and miss, there should be someone backing you up. You have more liberty to take those risks. Isolated one-on-one out wide, though, there’s nowhere to hide. Laporte didn’t cover himself in glory on the play, either, oddly refusing to come across and engage with Vinicius as he approached the penalty area. But it was Fernandinho’s overzealousness that created the opportunity.

Tuesday’s madcap contest brought back memories of Manchester City’s similarly frenetic 5-3 win over Monaco in this same competition back in 2017. Playing at full-back that night? Fernandinho.

Some praise for the referee

Let’s face it: being a referee at this elite level simply cannot be fun. You’re constantly maligned. Half of the people watching are upset with every decision you make, and the only time you garner significant attention is when you’ve made a mess of things. Nobody remembers a flawless officiating performance, but everyone recalls the terrible ones.

We’re flipping the script this time, though. Istvan Kovacs deserves plenty of praise for the way he handled the buildup to Manchester City’s fourth goal of the match. Bernardo Silva’s quick-witted rocket was the result of a fantastic advantage played by Kovacs, who didn’t rush to blow his whistle when Zinchenko was hacked down by Kroos on the edge of the area.

Instead, with Silva picking up the loose ball, Kovacs allowed play to continue. Carvajal stopped for a moment, expecting the whistle to sound. That split-second gave Silva the space he needed to uncork a shot that flew past a surprised Courtois. At the highest level of the sport, the tiniest hesitation makes all the difference.

That goal stood as the one to ultimately separate the two teams, and Kovacs’ part in it was paramount. Well done, referee.

Pep Guardiola noted it ahead of Manchester City’s visit from Real Madrid. His side would need to overcome hardships against gnarled, streetwise opponents if they wanted to reach the Champions League final. Matches of this magnitude are rarely straight sprints to the finish.

“We have the desire to play against them and take on this incredible test, and we want to improve,” Guardiola said in his pre-match press conference. “We are going to suffer together and then, when we attack, do it as well as possible.”

Suffering to succeed is one of Guardiola’s mantras at City. He mentions it a lot, including before the Champions League final defeat to Chelsea and again ahead of a group-stage scuffle with Paris Saint-Germain this season. Each time – in Porto, Paris, and Tuesday’s 4-3 first-leg win on home turf – Guardiola’s warnings were justified.

And in Real Madrid, a team that habitually drags itself over the line from precarious positions in domestic and European football, there might not be better tutors for City on the art of suffering.

Karim Benzema and Luka Modric thrived on adversity at the Etihad Stadium. City had just poured forward twice and could’ve made it 3-0 through the efforts from Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden. A response from Real Madrid was required. It was no surprise that Benzema – a player whose obscene goal output leaves his excellent buildup play somewhat underappreciated – first stepped up. He drove into a channel populated by Bernardo Silva, Rodri, and Ruben Dias to win a corner from a scenario that, initially, seemed harmless.

Benzema ran to the corner flag, quickly exchanged passes with fellow veteran Toni Kroos, and wrapped his foot around a delivery toward the direction of David Alaba. The defender was understandably disappointed he didn’t at least nod the ball on target. City didn’t have enough time to get ready for the set-piece properly, and Ederson appeared beaten at his far post.

In merely 20 seconds, Benzema pulled his sinking team from a rising tide. It’s brief periods like this that can turn the direction of a game. That’s how battle-hardened players respond to setbacks, especially those of Benzema’s experience.

Modric – perhaps football’s neatest personification of Muhammad Ali’s line, “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” – also pushed his 5-foot-8 frame to its limits to help his side reduce the first of the three two-goal deficits it faced in the first leg. Modric determinedly flung himself into the air to win a header in midfield before a Vinicius Junior shot was deflected wide. He later expertly spread himself for a block tackle on Mahrez, banking on a deflection that could trigger an attack for the visitors.

The challenge worked. The ball ricocheted to Ferland Mendy, whose bouncing cross was excellently turned in by Benzema.

“We know if we give the ball away in dangerous areas, they’re going to punish us,” Foden said post-match after noting Real Madrid’s unrivaled Champions League pedigree.

The seasoned winners in this competition will prey on the smallest errors. Fernandinho – an ersatz right-back after replacing another unnatural player in that position, John Stones, during the first half – promptly followed his sumptuous assist for Foden with an ill-advised attempt to halt Vinicius on the halfway line. The winger duped his compatriot and coolly finished after an explosive, though largely unchallenged, sprint down the left flank.

And though Aymeric Laporte’s concession of a penalty was slightly unfortunate – the ball hit his head before it glanced off his outstretched arm – Benzema leaned on every bit of his experience to net his penalty for Real Madrid’s third goal. Benzema peeked at Ederson as he trotted up to the spot and saw that the goalkeeper was coiled and prepared to spring in either direction, so he serenely looped a Panenka into the middle of the net.

City hadn’t conceded a goal in the knockout rounds. They hadn’t surrendered a Champions League goal at home since November. Yet Real Madrid, who City outplayed for long periods, relied on their know-how to breach the reigning English champions three times. City should’ve won the match by two or more goals.

“We’re not going to decide the tie tomorrow,” Carlo Ancelotti said before the doubleheader began. “It will be decided at the Bernabeu.”

Real Madrid have players remaining from their hoarding of four Champions League crowns over the past eight years. That much was clear in a classic display of opportunism, fighting to win individual battles, and reveling in the pressure. They suffered and came out with a 4-3 defeat, which was much more than they deserved.

City, without a single Champions League winner in their squad, must learn from the best – and do it fast – if they’re going to collect Europe’s top prize at the end of May and in years to come.

And then there were four. The Champions League semifinals begin this week with a pair of intriguing matchups on deck. Here’s a breakdown of each contest, along with predicted outcomes.

Manchester City vs. Real Madrid

• First leg: April 26 (Etihad Stadium)
• Second leg: May 4 (Santiago Bernabeu)

The 13-time champions, who boast about the European Cup being part of their DNA, against a club that’s desperate to validate its project on the continental stage by capturing the famous trophy for the first time.

Real Madrid and Manchester City, coming off equally chaotic but very different quarterfinal triumphs, meet in this round’s marquee matchup. It wouldn’t really be accurate to dub this the old guard of European football against the new – Manchester City have been the dominant force in English domestic football for the last decade, after all. But the sport’s changing financial landscape – and thus its power shift toward England – hasn’t yet resulted in City winning their most desired accolade: the Champions League.

“If we had to compete with history, we wouldn’t have a chance,” Pep Guardiola said of the impending clash. “Their history speaks for itself.

“We have to have the desire to compete against them. To play against Real Madrid is an incredible test. We want to try it. We need to suffer, to stick together, when we have the ball, try to attack.”

Joao Cancelo’s absence looms large over the first leg; the Portuguese full-back, a creative fulcrum from his nominally defensive position, is suspended for Tuesday’s affair. There are very few players in the world capable of replicating Cancelo’s attacking impact. With respect to the possible replacements in Guardiola’s squad, none of them play for Manchester City. Injuries to Kyle Walker and John Stones are concerning, too, especially considering that Vinicius Junior isn’t exactly the opponent you want to see when faced with a selection crisis at right-back.

Guardiola, often ridiculed for “overthinking” his lineup and tactical choices in recent Champions League seasons, has no choice but to concoct something unique after admitting that both Walker and Stones are “doubts” for Tuesday.

Absentees aside, Guardiola can – and should – take solace in a simple yet vital fact: Manchester City is the better team. By the Expected Goals (xG) metric, City have both the best attack and defense of the four semifinalists remaining in this year’s competition; their xG difference of 12.6 is vastly superior to Real Madrid’s mark (4.2). Yes, Madrid has faced tougher opposition in the knockout stages, but City navigated a more difficult group.

Real Madrid, as they did in each of the last two rounds, will have to rely on less tangible factors. It’s impossible to measure, but the experience and self-belief that decorated veterans like Karim Benzema, Luka Modric, Casemiro, and Toni Kroos possess means there’s never a sense of panic on the pitch, particularly when the second leg is played at home.

“At the Bernabeu, nothing is ever lost,” Carlo Ancelotti said after the rousing quarterfinal with Chelsea, which the red-hot Benzema decided in extra time. “I can’t explain it, but there is a magic at the Bernabeu that helps you.”

By every quantifiable metric, Guardiola’s team is superior. If that “magic” is real – and, honestly, after seeing Madrid conjure up seemingly impossible Champions League victories out of the ether on countless occasions, it just might be – they’ll need every last drop of it to topple Manchester City.

This time, previous success might not be enough to beget more of it. City, last year’s defeated finalists, are on a mission to write their own chapter of history.

Prediction: Manchester City advance after extra time

Liverpool vs. Villarreal

• First leg: April 27 (Anfield)
• Second leg: May 3 (Estadio de la Ceramica)

Juventus. Bayern Munich. Liverpool?

Villarreal, the modest Spanish club making its first appearance in the Champions League semifinals since 2006, is aiming to pull off yet another upset and extend a remarkable European run that’s being savored in an era otherwise dominated by uber-rich “super” clubs with unlimited resources.

This would be their biggest surprise yet, though, and by some margin.

Unai Emery’s unflappable unit will have to overcome a Liverpool team that has just one loss in all competitions since Dec. 28. Looking to reach a third Champions League final in five seasons, this is arguably the best squad Jurgen Klopp and the Reds have put forth in that stretch.

“They have probably the most successful cup competition manager in world football, so he knows what he is doing,” Klopp said of his opposite number. “Unai Emery is the king of the cups. It is unbelievable what he is doing.”

How Emery compensates for the expected absence of injured striker Gerard Moreno will be the most intriguing tactical wrinkle of the first leg, and perhaps the most decisive of the entire tie. Giovani Lo Celso, as he’s done on occasion, could play a more advanced position behind Arnaut Danjuma. Having the Argentine in a faux No. 10 role would then allow Emery to pack the center of the pitch by introducing another midfielder, possibly Manu Trigueros or Francis Coquelin, into the lineup in an effort to wrest control. At the very least, it’d offer some resistance against Thiago, who’s again at his metronomic best at the heart of Liverpool’s midfield.

That conservative option seems most likely, based on Emery’s track record in the competition this season. This is a team, remember, that knocked out Bayern Munich despite ceding possession almost entirely and having just two shots on target over the 180 minutes.

Can such a guarded approach work again?

Though unlikely, if Emery wants to be more aggressive, quarterfinal hero Samuel Chukwueze could be inserted into the starting XI, which would potentially help to keep Andrew Robertson more honest down the flank.

But even if the Basque strategist solves that conundrum, he still needs an answer for the other side of the pitch, where Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah will try to overwhelm the sometimes overzealous Pervis Estupinan. Trying to shut down Liverpool is like playing whack-a-mole – if you put out one fire, another immediately springs up.

We’ve been burned before siding against Emery, but beating this Liverpool team is a different proposition to anything the Yellow Submarine have faced thus far. Villarreal will make it tight, of course, but Klopp’s rampant side is simply on another level that only Manchester City can match this season.

Get ready for an all-English Champions League final. Again.

Prediction: Liverpool advance 3-2 on aggregate