Liverpool hosts Barcelona in the second leg of the Champions League semifinals. The match will be played on Tuesday, May 7th at Anfield (Liverpool)
In the first match, the head coaches managed to amaze the fans with the starting lineups. If we talk about Ernesto Valverde, he fielded Arturo Vidal in the center instead of Arthur Ramos. As for Jurgen Klopp, he left Henderson, Alexander-Arnold, and Lovren on the bench. Moreover, no one expected to see Roberto Firmino, who had an injury. In the first half of the meeting at Camp Nou, we saw an equal game. Even before the break, Naby Keita had to leave the field; he picked up an injury after Rakitic’s sliding tackle. If Suarez had not scored in the first half, one could even say that Liverpool had control over the game. The fact is that Messi was covered completely - Milner and Fabinho met him very harshly. However, the individual skill of the players in blue-red T-shirts played its role. The Liverpool defenders, led by praised Virgil van Dijk, were unable to do anything in the episode when Suarez scored after Alba's cross.
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At the beginning of the second half, the British played better. In a matter of minutes, they created two or three good goal attempts. Barcelona was temporarily pinned in its own area, and what is most surprising, the team was deprived of ball possession. If it wasn’t for Marc-Andre ter Stegen, the men of another German, Jürgen Klopp, would have managed to restore the status quo. One gets the impression that the German goalkeeper only progresses with each match. He whisked the ball twice when Liverpool’s fans saw it in the net. Georginio Wijnaldum played in the position of the central forward but failed to replace Firmino at full breath. Barça shortly began to put the game off their box, and Coutinho’s substitution contributed to that. The Brazilian midfielder, though he didn’t manage to score his ex-team, looked great in general. Vidal moved to the left flank and also showed a rather good game. However, they did not make the result; ingenious Messi took up this task as it has always been. We can’t blame the players of Liverpool for the absence of desire; however, now nothing can be done about Leo Messi - he looks perfect in every sense. He scored the British twice, and both times the opponent’s goalkeeper failed to cope with that shots. If Leo showed a goal-scoring flair in the first goal, then in the second one, he demonstrated the free kicks workshop once again.
Liverpool looked decent in the away game and obviously did not deserve to be defeated with a hammering score. The victory of Barcelona with a 3: 0 score is a sure ticket to the final, which will be held in Madrid. Intrigue before the return game could come to life if Salah had scored in the last minutes; however, an Egyptian hit the post from a very advantageous position, which greatly disappointed Liverpool’s fans. The men of Jurgen Klopp perfectly covered Messi throughout almost the whole match; they created more moments and good pressure. Valverde's plan appeared to be more successful than the game plan of the German coach. In the second game, after such a convincing victory, both teams would probably play cautiously and hold the advantage, but Barcelona will hardly cling to their box. Blaugrana will not risk for sure and will possess a ball more often in order to prevent the opponent from attacking. Therefore, many goals should not be expected.
Prediction for the match: Under 2.5 goals scored
