The confrontation between Barcelona and Liverpool in the semifinal of the Champions League, many managed to christen as an early final. In comparison with the "Ajax" and "Tottenham" teams seemed to be clear favorites of the championship, at least on paper. In addition to the rich history, for the English team spoke the status of the participant of the last year's main match of the tournament, and for Barcelona - the presence of one of the best football players in the world - Lionel Messi.
It was around the Argentinean figure that the most attention was concentrated. Messi approached this game in the rank of one of the main specialists in the English teams. In 32 meetings with bands from Foggy Albion, he was marked with 24 goals, which automatically made him one of the main characters. At the same time, many people forgot about the fact that he had not hit the Liverpool gate yet - in the two previous matches with the red ones, he left the field without scored goals.
In addition to Messi, special attention was focused on two other Barcelona players, Luis Suarez and Filipe Coutinho. Both of them became famous in the composition of the mersyside team, after which they replenished the composition with “blaugranny”. At the same time, the departure of the Brazilian turned out to be not the most beautiful - for several months he literally demanded from the club management to let him go to Spain, which he deserved not the most flattering epithets from the Red fans.
As for the guests themselves, neither the presence of an opponent of Messi, nor the 31-game Barcelona win-win series in their field could deprive them of their faith in their own forces. On the eve of this meeting, Liverpool was the only English team to beat the Catalans at the Camp Nou in the European club tournament and was going to do it again. In this he was going to help his helmsman Jurgen Klopp, who won all 10 two-game oppositions at the helm of the Reds.
Unlike the opponent, the German specialist was unable to release all the leaders on the field. So, Roberto Firmino could not make a strike trio with Mohammed Salah and Sadio Mane. The Brazilian was recently injured and remained in the reserve, and Giorginho Waynaldum took his place. In addition, Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was replaced by Joe Gomez, was not on the right flank of the defense.
Ernesto Valverde could not rely only on Rafa Alcantara, so he presented the expected combination of a football player. Mentor blue garnet limited to only one unexpected move. So, in the center of the midfield, Arthur Ramos's place was taken by his namesake Vidal. Koutinho and Suarez appeared in the attack, while Usman Dembele remained on the bench.
The first minutes of the meeting were held in an equal game, teeming with double-edged attacks. Both teams immediately rushed forward and were close to opening an account. Not without controversial moments, one of which occurred in the penalty hosts. Manet was on the lawn as a result of contact with Piquet, but the chief arbiter, Bjorn Kuypers, did not see a violation of the rules. A few minutes later, the Dutchman could put a penalty at the gate of the guests, but also did not react to hitting the ball in the hand of Matip.
After ten starting minutes, the teams calmed down a bit and began to act more prudently. "Barcelona" tried to establish control over the ball, but "Liverpool" actively put pressure, not just making interceptions in the center of the field. The activity of the British restrained the loss of Nabi Keith. The midfielder was injured in a collision with Ivan Rakitic and was forced to give way to Jordan Henderson.
Just two minutes after the guests arrived on the field, their rivals opened an account. Coutinho received the ball on the border of the penalty area, rolled it to Alba, and Jordi played a filigree pass to the 11-meter mark. Suarez broke away from Matip and in the fall hit the Becker gate. Thus, the Uruguayan first distinguished himself in the current tournament draw and became the author of the 500th goal of “Barcelona” in the Champions League. More in the Champions League scored only "Real" - on account of the royal club 551 accurate strike.
Wards Valverde tried to “dry” the game, but instead they almost let their rival restore the status quo. Gomez brought Mane alone with Ter Stegen, but the striker did not have enough accuracy. Senegalese struck in one touch, and the ball went well above the gate.
The ending of the first 45-minute was remembered not by dangerous attacks, but by an uncompromising game in defense. So, Clement Langle got a yellow card for a foul against Mohammed Salah, and James Milner was pretty hard on Messi. The Englishman at full speed crashed into an Argentine after the ball left the field.
During the break, Klopp found the right words and the beginning of the second half, Liverpool spent very bright. For the first 15 minutes, the guests created three absolute moments at once, each of which could culminate in a goal. Twice Milner was on the edge, and once again Salah delivered a blow, but Ter Stegen acted flawlessly. In two episodes, the Barcelona goalkeeper saved his team in spectacular jumps, and in another one - ideally took up the position, firmly taking the ball after the shot of the English midfielder.
Valverde immediately responded to this with a substitute - instead of Coutinho, a nominally flank defender Semedo appeared on the field. This helped the owners cool down a little the ardor of their rival, but not for long. The guests looked more confident and continued to surpass their opponents in freshness and dedication. Even Messi, who was very active in the first half, did not shine, but in the second he was more inactive in the central circle.
But at the crucial moment the Argentine took the game into his own hands and for the first time in his career he distinguished himself in the match with Liverpool. Messi burst into the penalty area and waylaid a rebound from the crossbar after hitting Suarez. Thus, Lionel scored a goal in a match with each of the English teams that he met in the European arena.
But his exploits did not end there. Just seven minutes later, the hosts earned a free-kick 26 meters from the goal, and Messi scored his 600th goal for Barcelona. The Argentinian sent the ball exactly in the upper left corner of the goal. Becker did not have a single chance to save his team. It is noteworthy that Messi's first goal for the team is dated May 1, 2005.
In the remaining time, “Liverpool” could get a prestige ball, but the guests were desperately unlucky. In the course of one attack, Firmino and Salah, who had come on as a substitute, had two excellent points, but the ball after the Brazilian hit hit the defender on the line, and the Egyptian shot through to the post.
At the sixth minute, almost the full guests went to the corner play and nearly missed the fourth time. Three players of the hosts were against two defenders of the guests, but could not translate this moment into a goal. Dembele badly struck, sending the ball straight into the hands of Becker. “Barcelona” defeated “Liverpool” in the first match of the Champions League semifinal and almost crossed the opponent's chances of success.