Villarreal came away empty handed from Anfield on Wednesday night, but their fans contributed a lot to a brilliant atmosphere in Liverpool during the day of the match.
The team nicknamed the Yellow Submarine came to the home of the Beatles and, predictably, made the most of the link between their club and the song by Liverpool's most famous musical export.
Villarreal's fans also contributed a lot to a great atmosphere inside Anfield on Wednesday night, on a night when their performance on the pitch disappointed.
Villarreal fans turned Liverpool yellow on Wednesday
Villarreal pulled off a miracle in getting to the last four of this season's Champions League. Their manager Unai Emery has worked wonders in the past few seasons with the club, winning last season's Europa League and bringing the club past Juventus and Bayern Munich on their way to this season's Champions League semi-finals.
The last four saw the team's fans make the journey to Liverpool to face one of the best teams in world football. Liverpool is, of course, the home city of The Beatles, the writers of the iconic song 'Yellow Submarine', from which Villarreal's nickname comes.
Naturally, their fans made the most of their surroundings, visiting various landmarks related to the 'Fab Four'. They sang 'Yellow Submarine' at the Beatles statue by the Liverpool docks, before draping a Villarreal scarf around a statue of John Lennon in the city centre.
Villarreal CF fans singing the Yellow Submarine at The Beatles statue in Liverpool @LivEchonews @VillarrealCF #Liverpool #Villarreal pic.twitter.com/MRIvOYIq1O
— Colin Lane (@snapperlane) April 27, 2022
𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒀𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝑺𝒖𝒃𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒆
📍 Liverpool@LFC 🆚 #Villarreal #UCL pic.twitter.com/9qm2K1cdwg— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) April 27, 2022
The scenes of the Villarreal fans taking over the city of Liverpool in the afternoon was the sign of a proper European away day.
The sea of yellow which took over the city centre was extraordinary, and showed the support for a club of minnows punching above their weight.
💛 LOLOLOLOLOLOLOOOOOOO 💛#UCL pic.twitter.com/5ndhPhRGHu
— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) April 27, 2022
¡𝗢𝗢𝗢𝗢𝗢𝗢𝗢𝗛𝗛𝗛𝗛𝗛𝗛...
𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟 💛!#UCL pic.twitter.com/gVYHGS62cx— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) April 27, 2022
𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭, 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐚𝐫, 𝐚 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐚𝐫 𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋 🟡🔵!#UCL pic.twitter.com/EcACA5i1HL
— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) April 27, 2022
It was repeated ad nauseum throughout the night by pundits from all arenas, but the support for Villarreal was truly exceptional when the size of the town in Spain is taken into account.
You could fit the entire population of the town inside Dublin's Aviva Stadium, and around 6% of that population made their way to Liverpool on Wednesday.
Villarreal sold their 3,000 tickets for Anfield - that’s 6% of the town’s population. That’d be like Leeds taking 48,000... The entire population of Villarreal would fit inside Anfield.
— Andy Mitten (@AndyMitten) April 27, 2022
Inside the stadium, their fans made the most of what ended up being a forgettable night on the pitch for the team. Nonetheless, Villarreal's support endeared them to many on Wednesday in Liverpool.
𝗬𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄.#UCL pic.twitter.com/cYBJSxRrch
— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) April 27, 2022