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Lionel Messi scored twice, the second on a scandalous free kick, to give Barcelona an impressive but barely deserved lead over the Liverpool in the Champions League semifinal.
The double has brought the brilliant Messi to 600 career goals for the Catalan club and won a 3-0 first-leg victory against Jurgen Klopp's team – who was the best for the long periods of the competition – after that Luis Suarez opened the scoring against his teammate. old club.
Ernesto Valverde has signaled to Philippe Coutinho to advance on Ousmane Dembele so that he joins Suarez in the face of his former employers, with the inclusion of Chilean veteran Arturo Vidal on young Brazilian Arthur the only real surprise .
The surprise was, however, on the agenda for Jurgen Klopp since Joe Gomez has been offered a first start since early December in place of Trent Alexander-Arnold.
While Roberto Firmino was only able to qualify for a spot on the bench, Klopp chose not to replace a direct substitute and instead appealed to Georginio Wijnaldum in a more advanced role, pushing between the pair. Mo Salah and Sadio Mane.
Jurgen Klopp dismissed the idea that the match was a final before the final, but these claims did not sound so outrageous in the first half of the season, leaving you wondering how they are supposed to live with the young Tottenham team. Erik Ten Hag universally adored the winners of this tie in Madrid a month ago today.
Liverpool fans, but not particularly their players, wanted a penalty at five minutes when Gerard Pique gave the first indication that he would fight to live with the threat of Mane, clumsily toppling the Senegalese striker to the next. inside the surface.
At the other end, however, the Barca was operational and, after Ivan Rakitic threatened to conduct a complex exchange with Coutinho, Liverpool needed a Andy Robertson cover to thwart Lionel Messi.
Liverpool lost Naby Keita after a little over twenty minutes, but Jordan Henderson's introduction, unlucky not to start, only allowed them to maintain their lead in the middle of the field, despite Vidal's typically chaotic and disruptive presence.
However, whenever the Barcelona striker mingled, there was a problem and when Jordi Alba – for all intents and purposes, a left winger – exchanged a colored ball between Virgil Van Dijk and Joel Matip, Suarez was in trouble. life and rushed to find the net before showing any scruples to party.
Liverpool was not troubled and could have been tied when Henderson showed a creative spirit that has been a positive addition to his game in recent weeks with a superb ball arched in Mane's trajectory, but he could only pbad the bar.
Despite his good game, Liverpool did not ask Marc-André Ter Stegen any serious questions, but they re-established the problem immediately after the break, as Salah and James Milner both forced the German to make good backups. well placed efforts from the edge of the box.
Where the first half had been a ebb and flow, the first half of the second saw only wave after wave of Liverpool's attacks, Salah's impeccable control and Wijnaldum's manikin who nearly started Milner.
Valverde sacrificed Coutinho, sending Nelson Semedo to double with Sergi Roberto to try to contain the Robertson-shaped tide, and moving Vidal on the opposite side, where he immediately found a space to receive Messi's pbad in the interior. of the box, to then sow the disorder of the cut back.
Matip had to catch up by intervening to thwart Suarez, still alive, after playing, but it was a moment of rare concern for visitors, as Barca seemed to adopt the kind of "we". I remember this approach that they had adopted late in the first leg of their quarter-final victory at Old Trafford.
It was then that the match took place and that the match may have changed, Fabinho's tackle inadvertently providing the missing link in an attack in Barcelona that eventually sent Suarez to the goal. For a moment, Liverpool's luck was on the line, his shot coming back from the bar, but only to Messi, who was driving in an empty goal.
If the number 599 goal of Barcelona was one of the simplest, the number 600 was one of the best, even taking into account the ridiculous bar of this collection.
When Argentina lined up a free kick 35 meters from goal, he even felt that he would have a hard time beating Alisson, but that's what this man made of logic, and he launched a Perfect laser effort that started well outside the vertical and was folded back. inside just in time to snuggle up in the upper corner.
Nevertheless, Liverpool had a glorious chance of getting an away goal to survive, when Firmino, just in replacement, saw his shot fired and then went for Invahly for Salah, only for the Egyptian, maybe even stunned by what he had done. had seen on the other end, crushing against the pole.
Relive Barcelona vs Liverpool live at Camp Nou!
Live updates
Lionel Messi refuses to be carried away …
"We know it's not decided," he told Movistar. "We still have to go to a very difficult stage, but we are very happy."
The boss of Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp, has maintained with BT
"Football is like that, it's about scoring goals, they scored three goals against us, we did not score any, the performance was really good, the boys played a very good game. . What can I say?
"You do not have any grades, you only get tough results and we have to accept it, I do not know if we can play much better to be honest."
On the second step – "We are going to replay, it is still our plan, but we have not made life easy with this result.We do not have to think about this game now.We play against Newcastle in three days and it's more important. "
Rio Ferdinand praised the genius of Lionel Messi on BT Sport
"Once again, this man on your screen has decided" I will take this game aside and remove the game from the opposing team ".
"The free kick was incredible, the goalkeeper could possibly do better than what he did, but this guy, be here … it's something I can tell my kids and maybe to my grandchildren someday.It is as good as him.It can decide a match of this level, at the highest level of the game we love, it can decide it as and when it will decide it.
"Individual brilliance, the way he appreciates his teammates, his speed, his distribution, the timing of the pbades, his decision-making … All this is phenomenal.
"Liverpool, as much as you can talk about Barcelona, they missed big chances in this game."
We will have a full reaction from Camp Nou as soon as we get it …
What can you say?
Jurgen Klopp was smiling at this third goal and what else can you do? Just unstoppable. A brilliant football game, again belonging to a man.
FULL TIME | Barcelona 3-0 Liverpool
90 + 7 minutes: what a miss!
Dembele is alone at 12 yards, after Messi missed the opportunity of a hat-trick to feed him, but he missed a lot in Alisson's arms.
90 + 2 minutes: We are playing with five minutes more time, but it will probably last longer because Barca has just made a double change.
Can Liverpool score a goal on the outside?
84 minutes: What luck !!
A released ball reaches Fimino in the surface and his efforts on the sides are eliminated from the line, but only until Salah. He must score, but crush the post.
GOAL!
82 minutes: 600 goals in Barcelona, and I know this will seem exaggerated, but I really do not know if there has been much better.
He must act from 35 meters, free kick that Alisson sees thoroughly, without doing anything. Magical.
GOAL! | Barcelona 3-0 Liverpool | Lionel Messi 82 & # 39;
ES COVER
Ben Hayward is at camp Nou
Messi pbades 2-0 and Camp Nou sings his name again and again. This is his first goal against Liverpool and leaves Barcelona in a dominant position if they can hold without yielding. The stadium is rocking now, with tangible relief among home fans now that their team has a cushion for two goals
GOAL!
75 minutes: game changer, tie changer.
It does not look like their usual flowing stuff – first a Liverpool tackle that works well, then a 50/50 that does the same, to feed Suarez. You would put your house on it to score, but it is only placed on the bar.
Unfortunately for Liverpool, he immediately returns to Messi and he walks in an empty net.
GOAL! | Barcelona 2-0 Liverpool | Lionel Messi 75 & # 39;
72 minutes: Jurgen Klopp is in a conversation. Hold or twist time, is not it?
68 minutes: Crucial in defense of Joel Matip, and a good job too because he was inexplicably five meters deeper than everyone else, playing Suarez backwards.
He comes back to intervene.
63 minutes: Great luck to the hosts, their first of this half, really.
That's Messi on the edge of the box, who sneaks up to Vidal, but he seems torn between shooting or crossing and eventually, luck is lost.
ES COVER
David Lynch is at Camp Nou
Liverpool continues to knock on the door but Marc ter Stegen refuses to open it. Visitors had enough chances to get their goal to the outside and James Milner really should not have allowed the goalkeeper to be a factor in this last opportunity. The huge concern for the team of Jurgen Klopp is the possibility that this useless finish is punished by another goal of the Barca.
59 minutes: Brilliant Liverpool, rife at the beginning of this second half. It's a corker with a long ball ahead, and Salah's touch is impeccable. He raises his head and plays in the center, where the Wijnaldum models are missing. Milner is the man who arrives and he takes his effort, but hits only right in front of Ter Stegen.
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Barcelona vs Liverpool Team
Barcelona XI: Ter Stegen, Sergi Roberto, Pique, Lenglet, Alba, Busquets, Rakitic, Vidal, Messi, Suarez, Coutinho
Subs: Cillessen, Semedo, Arthur, Dembele, Malcom, Umtiti, Alena
Liverpool XI: Alison, Gomez, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Milner, Wijnaldum, Keita, Mane, Salah
Subs: Mignolet, Lovren, Firmino, Henderson, Shaqiri, Origi, Alexander-Arnold
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