Villarreal manager Inigo Perez has admitted that Liverpool's Anfield atmosphere played a key role in the Reds' stirring comeback, as the hosts recovered from 2-0 down to beat the Spanish side 4-3

Villarreal manager Íñigo Pérez acknowledges his side were overwhelmed by the atmosphere of a Champions League evening at Anfield as they succumbed to a remarkable Liverpool fightback.

George Mikautadze and Sergi Cardona handed the Spanish visitors a 2-0 advantage within the opening half-hour, only for the Reds to draw level by the interval courtesy of strikes from Alexis Mac Allister and Ronald Araujo.

Mac Allister netted once more after the break while substitute Florian Wirtz also found the net before a Tanitoluwa Oluwaseyi consolation made the final score 4-3 in Liverpool's favour on Tuesday night.

Pérez reckons the pivotal moment arrived when the Anfield faithful reacted to Mac Allister heading in a Kostas Tsimikas corner in the 36th minute.

"There were many simple details which meant Liverpool could improve emotionally to get into the game," said the Villarreal manager. "They almost peg you back and you lose that control you have in the first half.", reports the Liverpool Echo.

"I don't like to talk about individuals or specify these details as it's a joint collective effort. I don't know how to express it. I don't think it's anything other than football.

"When you play at Anfield these things can happen, we have seen it many times when a goal is scored here you can feel that reaction. We felt everything when they made it 2-1 and then they equalised. We mentioned it to the players at half-time. That's part of the emotion and we didn't know how to manage it tonight.

"The key moment was when they equalized to make it 2-2 just before half-time. We had a fantastic first half, but the mentality and emotion drops and theirs grows and it affects you."

Despite trailing 4-2, Villarreal mounted a strong finish and Oluwaseyi's late goal offered a glimmer of hope for an improbable point.

Perez continued: "I don't think we were close to getting hammered. If we are able to correct simple but elite details we would be close to winning these type of games on these type of stages.

"But I do believe we were able to remain in the game until the very end. But if you score three goals and play very well and end up taking home a defeat, where you have to analyse it is just on the errors and mistakes that we made.

"Rio Ngumoha had a great game but also may other players played well, both sets of players."