Giovani Lo Celso has played under five different managers at Tottenham Hotspur.
The attacking midfielder initially joined the north London club on a loan deal from Real Betis in the summer of 2019. His stay was made permanent in January 2020, when he signed a contract with the Premier League side until 2025.
Last November, Tottenham Hotspur appointed Antonio Conte as Nuno Espírito Santo’s successor. Lo Celso failed to convince the former Chelsea manager and that saw him join Villarreal on a loan deal in the winter market.
The Argentine was in contention to make it to this season’s Champions League final with Unai Emery’s side. Villarreal’s hopes were crushed after they suffered a 3-2 defeat to Liverpool at home on Tuesday.
Liverpool had a 2-0 advantage from the first leg. This was nullified by Villarreal scoring two goals in the first half yesterday. The Reds bounced back by finding the back of the net on three occasions in the space of 12 minutes in the second half.
Villarreal CEO Fernando Roig Nogueroles slammed the match official for not giving his side a penalty after Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker brought down Lo Celso inside the box.
“I haven’t seen it on television yet, but I noticed a contact on the field and I think it was a penalty,” Lo Celso told Movistar+ about that incident, relayed by El Desmarque.
“It would have changed the picture, but it’s no excuse, they did their job in the second half, they converted their chances, but you’re left with anger and pain because of the elimination.”
The Tottenham Hotspur owned player’s comments after Villarreal’s defeat to Liverpool were also relayed by Notimérica.
“Obviously the first impression is one of pain and sadness because we wanted to play that final. We had a very good first half where we cut off all the circuits for them, but in the second half we couldn’t keep up with their rhythm,” he said.
“We knew that here it was going to be a different game, thanks to the push of the fans we gave that extra.
“In ten minutes, the game escaped us, but I’m proud of my team, for the image we gave against a team as big as Liverpool. In the second half we had a hard time keeping up with the pace of the first half.”
