Previous Match Infographics: Huddersfield (h),
Cardiff (a),
Porto (A),
Chelsea (h),
Porto (h),
Southampton (a),
Tottenham (h),
Fulham (a),
Bayern Munich (a),
Burnley (h),
Everton (a),
Watford (h),
Manchester United (a),
Bayern Munich (h),
Bournemouth (h) West Ham (a),
Leicester (h),
Crystal Palace (h),
Brighton (a),
Manchester City (a),
Arsenal (h),
Newcastle (h),
Wolves (a),
Manchester Utd (h),
Napoli (h),
Bournemouth (a),
Burnley,
Everton (h),
Paris St-Germain (a),
Watford (a),
Fulham (h),
Arsenal (a),
Cardiff (h),
Red Star Belgrade (h),
Huddersfield (a),
Manchester City (h),
Napoli (a),
Chelsea (a),
Southampton (h),
Leicester (a),
Brighton (h),
Crystal Palace (a),
West Ham (h)
Match data from
WhoScored, except average position from the
SofaScore app.
I mean, it ain't rocket science.
Liverpool got out-ruthlessed by a team that does what Liverpool does well, and often does it even better. And also has the greatest player of all time.
Which sucks.
The game plan wasn't bad. The game plan was surprisingly and satisfyingly bold.
Do you. You're the first or second-best team in the first or second-best league in the world. You've lost just one domestic match all season. You're fighting for the title in your league against one of the most expensively assembled sides ever. You're good at the football. Do you.
And Liverpool tried.
Liverpool had Barcelona on the ropes at the Camp Nou for surprisingly long stretches, both in the first and second halves. You show up at Barcelona and look to take the game to them. You press, you possess. You control distinct periods of the match, especially the first 20 minutes of the first half and first 15 minutes of the second half.
But after Liverpool initially impress, Barcelona wins the ball in midfield, cross-field switch, cross-field switch, full-back cross, full-back assist, attacker goal from close range.
But Barcelona counter-attacks late in the match, 15 minutes remaining, hanging onto a one-goal lead, and gets an incredibly fortunate bounce of the ball. Not just once, but twice. First, Messi's through ball to Sergi Roberto not tackled by van Dijk, the pass squirming towards Luis Suarez. Then, Suarez' shot off the woodwork, falling directly to Messi.
But Barcelona adds gloss with a set play. Albeit a direct free kick, which Liverpool have scored one of this season and Lionel Messi's scored eight, but still. Set play goal with a lead.
All of this feels vaguely and unsettlingly familiar.
Barcelona put five of their 12 shots on-target, compared to four of 15 from Liverpool. Barcelona scored two of three clear-cut chances, with the other off the crossbar to set up their third goal. Liverpool failed to score any of their three: Mané off-target when Robertson's low cross bobbles in front of him not long after Suarez' goal, Milner shooting straight at Ter Stegen not long after halftime, and Salah off the post in the 84th minute, when an away goal would have at least given Liverpool hope.
The smallest margins are punished at this level vastly more than at lower. This is the semi-finals of the Champions League, and Liverpool are up against a side that's won this competition three times in the previous ten seasons and their league in eight of those ten. They have been here before, repeatedly. Liverpool are just beginning to reestablish themselves as regulars.
And also, shit happens. Especially when Lionel Messi is involved.
So, yeah, not great, and not entirely Liverpool's fault. Still, Klopp's two big line-up decisions did not work as hoped.
Bobby Firmino is as close to irreplaceable in this side as anyone. Yes, Van Dijk, Alisson, Salah, but his work rate as the spearpoint of the press, the ability to drop deep to link up play but also create chances in the final third and repeadtedly demonstrate those necessary predatory instincts.
Wijnaldum – and it's not entirely his fault – did few of those things. Here's Gini's 79 minutes of work:
No shots. No dribbles. No tackles. One key pass, an in-box layoff to Milner just after half time.
More specifically, here's Gini's 79 minutes of passing.
There are a reasonable amount of passes received both in the box and in the zone just outside. There are few passes played and no shots taken from said positions. Where did the ball go?
I am not entirely sure why Wijnaldum was preferred to Origi or Sturridge. Pressing? Hold-up and link play in the #9/#10 role? Would either have been more influential? Maybe not. But they've at least played the position before. They're at least attackers. Liverpool rarely thrives with just two attackers; even in matches won without one of the front three – which thankfully doesn't happen often – Liverpool's had that other in Origi, Sturridge, Shaqiri, Keïta, or even Lallana.
So who becomes the third shot-taker? James Milner. Which – and we all love Hamez Thrillner – is welp.
This was the one glaring example of Liverpool not doing Liverpool.
And while Joe Gomez is a better defender than Trent Alexander-Arnold, he also hadn't started a match in five months. It's Gomez who's caught two against one after Vidal's cross-field switch, trying to close down both Coutinho and Alba because Henderson's unable to get back in time, neither able to stop Alba's cross into Luis Suarez for the opener.
Gomez only created one chance: a cross for Mané in the 67th minute, headed off-target. Robertson, with 13 assists this season and an average of 1.3 key passes per 90 minutes, failed to create any. That has not happened often this season. Sure, Liverpool had chances to score – good chances, clear-cut chances, even if not as many as we'd like – but Liverpool's full-backs are usually far more involved in creating said chances. And often to Liverpool's benefit.
But it's not Klopp's fault that Keïta went off through injury in the 24th minute. Henderson helped in certain regard, especially in the right half-space; it was his cross for Mané's first-half clear-cut chance, and he increasingly combined well with Gomez until Semedo came on around the hour mark. But he does not break lines like Keïta, press like Keïta, tackle like Keïta, or get in the box like Keïta.
It's not Klopp's fault that Liverpool put so few shots on-target or failed to convert one of three clear-cut chances, which is an awful lot against Barcelona at the Camp Nou.
And it's not Klopp or Liverpool's fault that Lionel Messi is Lionel Messi, who's now scored 600 goals in 683 games for Barcelona. Which, holy crap.
But this tie ain't over. Roma came back from a three-goal deficit against Barca in the quarterfinals last season, albeit with an away goal going in. Liverpool have won 11 matches this season by a three-goal margin or more. Of course, Barcelona haven't lost by three yet this season, and have conceded three or more just twice: 3-4 Betis and 4-4 Villarreal, with both fixtures featuring a red card.
It ain't gonna be easy. And, honestly, it probably ain't gonna happen. But that doesn't mean it can't. And, often, that's all this Liverpool team needs.
