Liverpool sidestep another obstacle that could hand them boost for title as well as Europe

Villarreal provided some decent resistance for a time but Liverpool found an inevitable breakthrough that could even boost their title hopes.

Everton merely adopted the dark arts but Villarreal were born in it, moulded by it. Both teams dragged Liverpool to half-time with sanity, reputation and clean sheet intact. Neither side could hold out for much longer after the break, soon succumbing to the inevitable abyss in ambition and chasm of quality.

It took 17 minutes for Andy Robertson to breach the resistance on Sunday and just over seven to sink the Yellow Submarine in an overwhelmingly one-sided Champions League semi-final. After the breathless rollercoaster that was Manchester City against Real Madrid, this was an exclusively downhill snuggle for Liverpool.

Therein lie further positives beyond the basic joy a 2-0 win in a monumental game. While their main rivals for the Premier League title were drained emotionally and physically by 90 demanding minutes which guaranteed yet more high-stakes football, the Reds could ease off somewhat with more than half an hour remaining, resting the legs of four key starters with early substitutions. Whether or not Jurgen Klopp alternates his pack as drastically as he did with a two-goal advantage against Benfica in the quarter-final, the domestic matches against Newcastle and Tottenham which sandwich the return leg no longer have to be viewed through that European lens of rotation.

Liverpool games ranked from least to most difficult as Quadruple appears on horizon

In their entire history, only twice have Liverpool lost the first game of a two-legged European tie when playing at Anfield. Chelsea’s 2009 vintage and the Leeds United of 1971 never looked likely to be joined by Unai