ShareVillarreal were 2-0 up in their Champions League clash with Liverpool, only for Andoni Iraola's side to turn the game on its head.Inigo Perez said his Villarreal players failed to deal with the "huge reaction" from the Anfield crowd as they let a two-goal lead slip in their Champions League defeat to Liverpool. Perez watched on as his team capitalised on some woeful defending from Liverpool to pull two goals clear by the 29th minute through Georges Mikautadze and Sergi Cardona. It was the earliest Liverpool have been two goals down in a game in major European competition since April 2016 against Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League (08:20).But by half-time, Andoni Iraola's side had hauled themselves back level thanks to two headers from Alexis Mac Allister and Ronald Araujo, and they carried on their momentum.Mac Allister notched his second of the match just after the hour, with substitute Florian Wirtz scoring his first goal of the season in the 67th minute to put the Reds in control. Tani Oluwaseyi netted what proved to be just a consolation in the 87th minute, with Villarreal on the end of a 4-3 defeat. They have now lost 11 of their last 13 games in the Champions League (W1 D1), including each of their last seven in the road.All four times Liverpool have been two goals down at home in major European competition inside the opening 29 minutes, they have gone on to win the game.Those instances came in April 1976 vs Club Brugge (12th minute, won 3-2), October 1996 vs Sion (23rd minute, won 6-3), April 2016 vs Dortmund (9th minute, won 4-3) and against Villarreal (29th minute, won 4-3), with Perez saying "simple mistakes" cost his side. "When they're trailing, and they score, they always generate a huge reaction," Perez conceded. "I don't think either team was ever out of the game at any point."If we avoid simple mistakes, I think we will be closer to winning these kinds of games. "[Leading at half-time] would have helped us a lot in terms of how we approached the second half. In the end, we conceded the equaliser and they gained momentum."This is Anfield, and you're playing against Liverpool. These are the details that end up working against you."Liverpool's comeback also saw them win a European Cup/Champions League game in which they were two goals down for the second time, previously doing so against Villarreal in the semi-finals in May 2022.The Reds have now avoided defeat in five of their six games in all competitions this season in which they’ve conceded the opening goal (W3 D2 L1), already more than across the entirety of 2025-26 (W2 D2 L18) under Arne Slot. "If you score three goals in the Champions League, even if it's at Anfield, you expect to get something from the game," Villarreal goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi said."We could have had a bit more control after going 2-0 up. That period was probably more frustrating than the goals themselves."Former Liverpool goalkeeper Gulacsi singled out Rio Ngumoha for praise, with the talented teenager producing a stunning individual display to lead his team's turnaround. Ngumoha (18 years and 52 days) became the third-youngest player to provide multiple assists in a Champions League game behind Warren Zaire-Emery against AC Milan in 2023 (17y 231d) and Theo Walcott against Hamburg in 2006 (17y 250d).He is also the youngest player on record since 2008-09 to complete 5+ dribbles (seven), have 10+ touches in the opposition box (12) and register an assist (two) in a Champions League match, with Gulacsi labelling his performance as "amazing"."He [Ngumoha] was amazing to be honest," Gulacsi added. "We knew he's very strong one-v-one on both sides, he can go past the defender."It's not just him. On the other side, Gakpo had a good game. It was not easy to defend them one-v-one, it's just the quality of the opponent."Villarreal were 2-0 up in their Champions League clash with Liverpool, only for Andoni Iraola's side to turn the game on its head.Inigo Perez said his Villarreal players failed to deal with the "huge reaction" from the Anfield crowd as they let a two-goal lead slip in their Champions League defeat to Liverpool. Perez watched on as his team capitalised on some woeful defending from Liverpool to pull two goals clear by the 29th minute through Georges Mikautadze and Sergi Cardona. It was the earliest Liverpool have been two goals down in a game in major European competition since April 2016 against Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League (08:20).But by half-time, Andoni Iraola's side had hauled themselves back level thanks to two headers from Alexis Mac Allister and Ronald Araujo, and they carried on their momentum.Mac Allister notched his second of the match just after the hour, with substitute Florian Wirtz scoring his first goal of the season in the 67th minute to put the Reds in control. Tani Oluwaseyi netted what proved to be just a consolation in the 87th minute, with Villarreal on the end of a 4-3 defeat. They have now lost 11 of their last 13 games in the Champions League (W1 D1), including each of their last seven in the road.All four times Liverpool have been two goals down at home in major European competition inside the opening 29 minutes, they have gone on to win the game.Those instances came in April 1976 vs Club Brugge (12th minute, won 3-2), October 1996 vs Sion (23rd minute, won 6-3), April 2016 vs Dortmund (9th minute, won 4-3) and against Villarreal (29th minute, won 4-3), with Perez saying "simple mistakes" cost his side. "When they're trailing, and they score, they always generate a huge reaction," Perez conceded. "I don't think either team was ever out of the game at any point."If we avoid simple mistakes, I think we will be closer to winning these kinds of games. "[Leading at half-time] would have helped us a lot in terms of how we approached the second half. In the end, we conceded the equaliser and they gained momentum."This is Anfield, and you're playing against Liverpool. These are the details that end up working against you."Liverpool's comeback also saw them win a European Cup/Champions League game in which they were two goals down for the second time, previously doing so against Villarreal in the semi-finals in May 2022.The Reds have now avoided defeat in five of their six games in all competitions this season in which they’ve conceded the opening goal (W3 D2 L1), already more than across the entirety of 2025-26 (W2 D2 L18) under Arne Slot. "If you score three goals in the Champions League, even if it's at Anfield, you expect to get something from the game," Villarreal goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi said."We could have had a bit more control after going 2-0 up. That period was probably more frustrating than the goals themselves."Former Liverpool goalkeeper Gulacsi singled out Rio Ngumoha for praise, with the talented teenager producing a stunning individual display to lead his team's turnaround. Ngumoha (18 years and 52 days) became the third-youngest player to provide multiple assists in a Champions League game behind Warren Zaire-Emery against AC Milan in 2023 (17y 231d) and Theo Walcott against Hamburg in 2006 (17y 250d).He is also the youngest player on record since 2008-09 to complete 5+ dribbles (seven), have 10+ touches in the opposition box (12) and register an assist (two) in a Champions League match, with Gulacsi labelling his performance as "amazing"."He [Ngumoha] was amazing to be honest," Gulacsi added. "We knew he's very strong one-v-one on both sides, he can go past the defender."It's not just him. On the other side, Gakpo had a good game. It was not easy to defend them one-v-one, it's just the quality of the opponent."