Even on a night when he was kept quiet for large spells, Lionel Messi had everyone rummaging through their repository of superlatives to describe him at the end of it.
Overall, Liverpool were the better side during their Champions League semi-final first leg against at Camp Nou but, crucially, nowhere near as clinical as they needed to be.
Barcelona on the other hand were and reaped the benefits against the run of play, winning 3-0 on the night.
Jordi Alba’s superb cross in the 26th minute saw Luis Suarez break the deadlock in his first game against his former employers. Then, the visitors grew from strength to strength and squandered some glorious opportunities before Messi made them pay dearly.
With 15 minutes to play, the Argentine started a move which saw Suarez hit the crossbar but running onto the rebound, he was there to finish it off.
Seven minutes later, he had everyone in the stadium shaking their heads in disbelief. Having won a free-kick 35 yards from goal, he stepped up and whipped an unstoppable effort past Alisson into the top corner.
If substitute Ousmane Dembele was more measured with his finish at the end of a breakaway at the death, Barca may have been taking a 4-0 advantage to Anfield.
WIJNALDUM ROLE
Jurgen Klopp served up a few surprises with his starting line-up and deploying Georginio Wijnaldum to fill in for Roberto Firmino up top was certainly one of them.
The Dutchman has a reputation for being versatile, having played in nearly every position at youth level, even starting his development as a centre-back.
However, Firmino’s absence would’ve only seen Liverpool fans’ appreciation for the Brazilian grow. Wijnaldum never really found his groove in the final third, failing to link up play as his unavailable team-mate usually does so effortlessly.
Firmino is as vital in possession as he is off it and Wijnaldum never came near meeting his standards with respect to his role in Liverpool’s pressing game. Barcelona’s centre-backs simply weren’t put under enough pressure and Liverpool had to work harder in the build-up rather than profit in the transition.
RATTLED REDS
Even at 1-0, given the way Liverpool threatened Barca in this clash, you’d have backed them to recover on home soil.
However, an element of desperation crept into their game and their La Liga counterparts punished them for it.
Messi was forced to drop deep throughout and when he got on the ball, he was usually crowded out. But as Liverpool pressed forward for an equaliser, he was afforded more space and his driving run through the middle led to Suarez crashing his effort off the crossbar only for the Argentine to gobble up the rebound.
Another chasm opened up in midfield in the build up to the third as Messi drew a foul in what perhaps isn’t usually considered position A1 for free-kicks, but with the Barca superstar standing over it, you always fancied him. He didn’t disappoint and put his side 3-0 up.
At the death, Liverpool really did need to take something back to England and were naturally exposed on the counter-attack. If not for Dembele’s poor finish with the last move of the match, the tie may have been killed off. It was a little preview of the pattern that could emerge in the second leg though, and one goal on the break could put the encounter to bed.
POSITIVES FOR LIVERPOOL
Over the course of the game, Liverpool were the better side and that’s no mean feat at Camp Nou.
They had more energy than their hosts and certainly more pace to trouble them.
With the marauding Alba on his side, Mohamed Salah always had space to run into and create problems for the Catalans. That’s an area of vulnerability Liverpool will be eager to exploit further back on Merseyside.
The Reds also created the better chances for most of the game. Unfortunately, two of them fell to James Milner. In fairness to the midfielder, his first attempt was thwarted excellently by Marc-Andre ter Stegen but the second was straight down the middle. Then there was that chaotic passage of play after Barca’s third when Firmino’s shot was saved on the line and Salah lashed the rebound onto the post.
With 74 minutes played, Barca looked like they were going to take a 1-0 advantage to Anfield and that didn’t seem nearly enough. A three-goal cushion though gives them a great chance now but an early goal for Liverpool in the second leg and – given the threat they posed in Spain – they could be in business.
