Etienne Capoue has described Anfield as "hell" ahead of Villarreal's trip to Liverpool's iconic stadium.
Villarreal travel to Merseyside for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday night.
Former Tottenham and Watford midfielder Capoue, who spent eight years in English football, knows how intimidating Anfield can be for visiting sides and has warned his teammates to expect a hostile reception.
“Anfield is hell, you have to say it how it is. It’s hell,” Capoue told AFP.
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“It’s the worst stadium I’ve been to in England. Whether it’s the atmosphere, the way they play. For 90 minutes, you live in hell.
“They have this ability to transcend themselves, to cause you nothing but problems, all the time, in any part of the field.
“They never stop, they rush you all the time, they only want to score goals, and even when they score, they carry on. They want to knock you out.
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“They don’t care what or who is in front of them. They just want to kill everyone and that’s it.”
Villarreal have already knocked out Juventus and Bayern Munich on their way to the last four of the Champions League.
And while Liverpool are favourites to beat Villarreal, Capoue insists the Spanish side are happy with their underdog status.
“Winning the Champions League? We never had the audacity to say we could win the Champions League,” he added.
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“We’re the smallest club in the semi-finals, we were the smallest club in the quarter-finals. We’re just making our merry way. And we have nothing to lose.
“We’re in the semis which shows we weren’t afraid of Juventus or Bayern. We don’t care, we know we’re underdogs.
“We’re not a big team but we’re a solid team, playing for the love of football, that wants to enjoy this moment. Because what we’re experiencing is incredible.
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“Nobody will say we’re favourites because we’re not. Who are the other teams? What else can we say about them?
“It’s not offending anyone to say there are 50,000 people here [in the city of Villarreal] and in their stadiums alone, they have 70,000 seats. We don’t mind, it’s the truth.”
Topics: Liverpool, Villarreal, Football, Anfield, Champions League