“ I ’ ve already told some of my teammates : ‘ I hope we win merely so you can feel how big it is ; you ’ re going to go nut, you won ’ thymine believe it, ’ ” Alberto Moreno says, and then the football player who says he competes with Santi Cazorla to see who laughs more, whose last textbook to goalscoring goalkeeper Alisson Becker ran “ bro, miles better than Salah, Mané and Firmino ”, and who vows to hide if Villarreal lose the final examination and David de Gea messages him, falls about again. “ I reckon it weighs more than the european Cup. The european Cup is heavy, but the Uefa Cup ? Woah. A seriously big collocate of steel. ” On Wednesday Villarreal face Manchester United in Gdansk. It is their first european final ; it is Moreno ’ s fifth in seven years. It is his third in this competition alone, and with three unlike clubs. “ I was at Sevilla and we reached a Europa League final examination, went to Liverpool and we reached a Europa League final examination, came to Villarreal and we reached a Europa League final. The following team I join, I ’ megabyte putting that in the contract, ” he says, grinning as he mimes signing a deal. It may need a bus article. Moreno ’ s Europa League narrative is a fib of three finals and one coach. Unai Emery, his coach now, was in charge when he won it with Sevilla in 2014. He was besides the passenger car who defeated him when Liverpool lost in Basle. “ Yeah, and he tells me that, ” Moreno says. “ He ’ ll say : ‘ We [ Sevilla ] actually stuck it to you. ’ He enjoys explaining how they played [ two full-backs ] to block me and Coutinho. then he ’ ll pronounce : ‘ Sorry Albi, ’ but he does likes to remind me. ”

not that Moreno in truth needs it. Emery can laugh, and Moreno surely can besides. Laughter can much feel like his natural state, a smile the size of the screen. But that final suffer. “ I still don ’ triiodothyronine understand the measure of criticism, ” he admits. “ On the first goal they nutmegged me, certain. But I ’ m a defender. Players get past Sergio Ramos, the best centre-back in the world. Why can ’ t it happen to me ? “ To this day I don ’ thyroxine understand why I got sol, so much criticism, when the wholly team didn ’ triiodothyronine turn well. The finger was pointed at one player and … ” Moreno shrug. “ I don ’ triiodothyronine think that ’ s OK. People blame you. only you. It was like I lost the final examination. It ’ second hard. You can ’ t get it out of your lead. You look at the paper, at social media – I don ’ thymine normally pay much attention to social media because it ’ south all thus false – and understand things. ‘ Alberto, Alberto, Alberto, Alberto. ’ I ’ ll go to my grave not understanding why I got all the blame. “ And that ’ s the begin of a class without playing. ” Did you feel that Jürgen Klopp protected you ? “ My relationship with Klopp was perfect and, with Unai, he ’ s the best coach I ’ ve ever had. He knows how to squeeze the best out of you, what to say at any consequence, how to get the group to go out and ‘ eat ’ the opposition. But protecting me would have meant keeping faith, giving me chances which didn ’ t happen. I don ’ thyroxine know if that was Klopp or the club. “ After the concluding against Sevilla, James Milner played left-back. If the coach puts a right-footed central midfielder there, then he doesn ’ metric ton want me. But the follow class pre-season started and he played me. I got bet on in the Spain team after three years and good then, I injured my ankle. That was when Andy Robertson had his chance. ” Moreno gestures to the ceiling. “ He played at such a high gear level and that was it ; I didn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate get any more chances. ”Alberto Moreno and Jürgen Klopp Moreno and Jürgen Klopp after Liverpool ’ s frustration by Sevilla in the 2016 final examination. Photograph: John Powell/Liverpool FC/Getty Images Moreno ’ s last game was the second Champions League final with Liverpool, marked by the death of José Antonio Reyes, killed in a car barge in that dawn. “ You go toss off to breakfast and all you ’ re thinking about is the concluding, the final examination, the concluding. And then you see the news. ” There ’ s a hesitate, and Moreno looks devour. He rubs his head. “ José Antonio was such a good ally. All I did that day was exclaim. I didn ’ thyroxine corrode. I put the television on and it was all about Reyes. I was crying like a small boy.

“ Klopp came to offer his condolences. He asked how I was, if I could cope, what I wanted to do. I told him I was sad, that we had been through a distribute together, but I was ready. Although I didn ’ t act, all I wanted was to win to dedicate it to him. When we did, pfff, he was all I could think about. It was an aroused night, because of Reyes and because it was my last game – and what better means to say adieu ? I left feeling there were things I wish I could have done, that I still had more to give, but I wouldn ’ t change those five years at Liverpool for anything. ” Villarreal were waiting, foremost under Javi Calleja then with a familiar figure. “ Time flies but Emery ’ s the lapp, ” Moreno says. The video are arsenic farseeing as ever, then ? “ Yep, ” he replies, laughing “ but it ’ south better that way. The players talk about it : ‘ Pfff, another video. ’ But you play well because you ’ ve spent an hour watching your opponents. Emery knows everything. By the time we ’ ve finished prepare, we ’ ll know how many kids Cavani and Pogba have got. “ The way the team ’ randomness play is testimony to his work. And he ’ randomness besides special because he gave me my debut and a run in the team when I was good a child. ” Moreno, though, suffered a cruciate injury in September and did not make a league appearance until April. He has played 194 minutes, making only two starts. There have been three ersatz appearances in Europe. “ My knee ’ second still not 100 %. I can do everything I want, but with certain movements you can feel it ’ s not completely good. With a long-run injury it ’ s more astir here, ” he says, tapping his head. He is grateful he is second for the end of the season .Alberto Moreno celebrates with Manu Trigueros (right) after Villarreal knock out Arsenal to reach the Europa League final. Alberto Moreno celebrates with Manu Trigueros ( right ) after Villarreal knock out Arsenal to reach the Europa League final.

Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters It is some end, besides. specially for a early Liverpool player ? “ I spoke with Fabinho and he said : ‘ Bro, on May 25 I ’ m a traditionalist Villarreal fan ’, ” Moreno says, giggling. But this is bigger than that. “ For some teammates, it still hasn ’ thyroxine sink in so far, how unmanageable it is to reach a european concluding. We can ’ thyroxine get this game out of our heads. We can ’ metric ton wait. We constantly talk about enjoying the travel. We ’ ve made history already ; if we win our names will be written into the books for ever. Beating United would round it all off. “ I ’ ve had a harsh clock time the final six months but I ’ megabyte getting minutes again, which is a huge reinforce … Having a Europa League final to look forward to calm is… ” Moreno blows out his buttock. “ Winning that would be incredible. “ Playing again, training with my teammates, even sitting on the bench after such a unplayful injury, able to experience another final, is amaze. For a year that started so badly to end like this makes it a bang-up year. ”