Lionel Messi strikes with sublime free-kick to leave profligate Liverpool a mountain to climb
Lionel Messi has scored 600 times for Barcelona – and the glorious 600th was an elegant stiletto to Liverpool’s heart. The world’s greatest ever player is a man on a mission this season, promising to bring back the Champions League, and so he struck twice to surely take this semi-final cruelly beyond Liverpool. It was an act of a God.
Fourteen years to the day since Messi scored his first Barcelona goal, against Albacete, it had seemed the story would be about Luis Suarez. Against his former side, the Uruguayan had shown that familiar ruthlessness to claim his first Champions League goal this campaign. And, of course, he celebrated – wildly – while he riled Liverpool players in apparent rotation: Alisson, James Milner and Andrew Robertson.
But Messi does what Messi does and it was he who lit up this high-quality encounter, his 683rd game for Barcelona, with his own brutal, beautiful genius. After he scored his second goal, a wonderful free-kick that swung from outside Alisson’s right-hand post to just inside it, Messi sat on the turf pumping his arms in celebration, milking the response of the supporters and knowing how much that meant.
Messi had stood on that same expanse of grass before this season started and told the same fans that he would help bring “that beautiful cup back”, four years after Barcelona last won it. So far he has been good to his word and it really does feel like football cannot stop this force of nature.
How prescient it had been from Jurgen Klopp. “Will we suffer?” he had asked rhetorically the day before, adding “100 per cent”. And Liverpool did suffer. But Klopp had also stated: “Will we get chances? Yes, 100 per cent.” And 100 per cent they did. There were three clear chances that they had to take, with the most maddening being when Mohamed Salah struck a post from close-range after substitute Roberto Firmino’s shot was cleared off the line.
Even taking just one of them would have meant so much, with Klopp lamenting the absence of the away goal they deserved ahead of next Tuesday’s second leg at Anfield. Instead, Liverpool were wasteful and even though 3-0 was incredibly tough on them, it could have been far worse had Suarez and, twice, substitute Ousmane Dembele not then missed the kind of opportunities that Messi would easily have taken. Instead it was he who set up his team-mates and Dembele’s second miss, in particular, was ridiculous as he shot weakly into Alisson’s arms.
Liverpool will reflect how this happened and the answer is simple: Messi. It is the qualification to any criticism Barcelona face. Ah, but, they have Messi. And they have Messi in this kind of mood which even veers towards the cynically professional as he implored Bjorn Kuipers, the referee, to book Milner after he barged into him, while he also squared up to the Liverpool midfielder. There was a snarl as well as a smile.
In fact, Liverpool had more attempts at goal – 14 to 11 – and more possession – 52 per cent to 48 – and until another of their former players, Philippe Coutinho, was withdrawn as Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde changed formation and added to his midfield, it seemed certain that they would draw level. Somehow they then lost by this emphatic scoreline.
Klopp had sprung a surprise with his own formation, using Georginio Wijnaldum as a “false” nine, with Firmino only deemed fit enough to start on the bench, and with Liverpool attacking aggressively down the flanks through Salah and Sadio Mane.
While it worked, Barcelona fought that fire with fire. It was frantic. It was fantastic. It was end to end and back again – and twice as quickly – with Messi setting off on run after mesmeric, panic-inducing run and Liverpool countering quickly. After penalty appeals were traded, and surprisingly ignored by the referee, Suarez claimed his moment.
The striker has been laboured at times this season but he was quicksilver as he superbly slid in, predator-like, in front of the static Joel Matip and with Virgil van Dijk also slow to react, to meet Jordi Alba’s clever, skidding low cross and steer the ball past Alisson.
It was not a good night for Matip or, in truth, Van Dijk, yet Mane should have drawn Liverpool level. After Naby Keita went off injured with an apparent groin problem, his replacement, Jordan Henderson, played a fine ball through to Mane. Between the Barcelona centre-halves, clear on goal, Mane lifted his shot over the bar.
Liverpool continued to press and into the second half it was Barcelona and their fans who appeared nervy, with Milner failing to score when Wijnaldum shrewdly dummied Salah’s cut-back to allow him a clear sight of goal. Milner hit his shot at goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who had already denied Salah.
Taking off Coutinho and bringing on defender Nelson Semedo, therefore switching to a 4-4-1-1, gave Barcelona more control and a platform. And Messi launched forward. His first goal was typical of him, even if it had a touch of fortune, as he collected possession and drove at the centre of Liverpool’s defence before threading a pass to Sergi Roberto, who was challenged. It broke to Suarez, whose shot came back off the bar for Messi to chest down and walk into the net with Alisson stranded. Goal number 599.
Liverpool were reeling and Fabinho body-checked Messi, who picked himself up. Even at 31, even given his gifts, Messi is improving and this season he has become a free-kick specialist. And so he curled a fierce shot beyond Alisson’s despairing grasp. It felt symbolic, with the Champions League also, surely, slipping away from Liverpool.
Klopp speaks
The performance was good. I'm really happy with the performance but not happy with the result. That's football. You don't get grades, only hard results. What can I say? It's outstanding how we created chances, how we controlled the game but one time bad defending takes us 1-0 down. I don't know if we can play much better to be honest. The free-kick was a wonder. 'Ali' was there but it was 'unsavable'.
There is no party in the dressing room, that's for sure but we learn from it. We reacted well in the second half. The game is over and whatever I say will not change the result. We have made our life not easy with that result but our people will be there [in the second leg]. But let us focus on Newcastle not that game now.
Match ratings from Camp Nou
Jason Burt's match report
Now tops the blog. You may have to refresh for it to appear.
Barcelona 3-0 Liverpool
The scoreline flatters Barcelona. Their opportunism is magnificent and they are wonderfully clinical. Add in one of the great free-kicks even from Messi's portfolio and Liverpool are stung 3-0. But they had enough chances, they looked more dynamic and quick at times but lacked precision with their through-balls and shooting. All is not lost ... just.
Full time
Last kick of the game, Dembele misses a sitter. LIverpool corner with everyone bar Gomez up and Barcelona break at pace. Dembele takes it 60 yards, passes to Messi who slide sit back to him so he's one-on-one with Alisson but scuffs it straight at him. Before Alisson can launch it, the ref blows for time.
90+4 min
One more minute to go and Barcelona take off Suarez and Sergi Roberto, sending on Alena and Dembele.
90+2 min
From the corner which is floated into Ter Stegen's grasp Bracelona break quickly and have three on one. But it's Messi, Suarez and Sergi Roberto, none of whom are particularly quick and Liverpool recover to block Suarez's effort.
90 min
Vidal makes a successful lunge tackle to knock the ball behind for a corner. Mane isn't happy and pushes Vidal in the face which is the prompt for Suarez to race over and remonstrate with him and whine at the referee. What a magnificent player and total pain in the tuchas.
89 min
Henderson hangs up a left-wing cross that sails beyond the back post. Gomez gives chase and Vidal tackles him hard but fair.
87 min
Remember Roma lost 4-1 here last year and still went through. An away goal would be more than a lifeline for Liverpool.
85 min
Second Liverpool substitution: Origi on for Milner.
84 min
Double Liverpool chance. Mane goes barrelling down the inside-left channel and when tackled the ball diverts to Firmino galloping in from the left. He takes a touch then shoots low past the onrushing Ter Stegen but Lenglet clears off the line. The keeper is stranded, Lenglet on the floor after his sliding clearance and the goal is at Salah's mercy but he smashes his shot into the right post instead.
83 min
Messi hit it with his left foot from 28-30 yards and arrowed it around the wall and into the top corner. Superb strike.
GOOOOOOAL!!!
Barcelona 3-0 Liverpool (Messi)A worldie from the free-kick into the top-left corner.
80 min
Barcelona free-kick, dead straight, 28 yards. Suarez was booked for haranguing the referee after the foul.
78 min
Liverpool substitution: Firmino on for Wijnaldum.
75 min
More than a hint of jamminess to it but devastating nonetheless. Messi is dribbling towards the box from about 30 yards but Fabinho makes an excellent sliding tackle from behind but it forces the ball into his own area. Sergi Roberto chases it and via him or Robertson it bounces up for Suarez who hooks a volley on to the bar from 12 yards. Messi, following up, traps it on his chest and walks it into the goal.
GOOOAAAL!
Barcelona 2-0 Liverpool (Messi)
72 min
Fabinho fouls Messi and Gomez trips Rakitic. On both occasions it was as if the Barcelona players were inserting themselves into positions to be fouled to break up Liverpool's rhythm. Roberto Firmino is warming up vigorously.
70 min
A couple of ponderous passes from Liverpool when they had bodies in the Barcelona box. First Mane from the right lifts a cross towards the penalty spot rather than driving it, then Henderson does the same from the opposite flank.
68 min
Another excellent tackle from Matip, refusing to be diddled and outrun by Suarez. He stays focused and robs him in the box.
66 min
Liverpool are camped outside the Barcelona box. Valverde is agitated on the touchline as Liverpool patiently probe ... until Gomez loses patience and snatches at a shot from 25 yards, slicing it high, wide and hideous.
63 min
Barcelona almost unpick Liverpool down the left of their penalty area and Messi is the locksmith. He makes one of those scampering runs across the 18-yard line, waiting for the opportunity and for Suarez, who is trying to stretch Liverpool'd defence by standing offside 90 per cent of the time, to come back onside. He spots the opening and threads a pass through to Vidal who has bombed past Matip. Perfect angle for a left-foot shot back across goal but he jibs it and tries to play in Suarez instead, giving Liverpool the chance to clear.
61 min
Barcelona substitution: Coutinho is replaced by Semedo who goes to right-back and Sergi Roberto to the right of midfield. Vidal moves closer to Salah.
59 min
Terrific from Liverpool. A brilliant Frank de Boer style left to right 60-yard diagonal from Van Dijk to Salah down the right. Salah skates in, leaves Jordi Alba clutching after shadows then arrows a pass towards the penalty spot. Wijnaldum dummies it and lets it run for Milner who catches it sweetly but smacks his crisp shot straight at the keeper. Big chance.
57 min
It's been all Liverpool this half, passing around Barcelona. Semedo is getting ready to come on, not for Lenglet but for Sergi Roberto. They need some pace.
55 min
Lenglet is injured after Liverpool squander a free-kick out on the left hard up against the byline for a foul on Mane. Klopp on the sidelines is bemused by the number of times Barcelona players are throwing themselves on to the deck.
53 min
Mane spins Sergi Roberto in the centre circle and, after delaying the pass, eventually works it through to Robertson. The left-back enters the box and skims a daisycutter to the near post. Henderson has made the run and shapes to dummy but instead touches it on to Wijnaldum who can't wrap his foot around it properly and hios tap is blocked. Salah picks it up on the edge of the area on the left and flays a shot towards the bottom right corner and Ter Stegen turns it round the post.
50 min
Mane is killing Sergi Roberto for pace every time. He skins him again down the outside then bludgeons his cross, watching it sourly as it sails harmlessly over the box. So good in the build-up, the final ball has been mostly abject so far.
49 min
Busquets elegantly knocks the ball over Milner after the Liverpool-vice-captain misplaces his chip over the defence seeking out Robertson. But Liverpool have started brightly and are pinning Barcelona into their own half.
47 min
Milner bends a right-foot shot around Pique, using him as a shield to blindside Ter Stegen. The keeper sees it late but dives across to his left to tip it round the post.
46 min
Do Liverpool fans now understand what everyone else saw when watching Suarez. A great player but such a ... Now he goes down after Matoip brushed against him, acting as if his spine has been ripped out. Klopp gives him a withering look.
Seen the goal?
It just had to be him!
Luis Suárez scores his first Champions League goal of the season against his former side ��
A big goal and a big celebration �� pic.twitter.com/JpkwknxIdr— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) May 1, 2019
Rio Ferdinand said that Van Dijk should have screamed at Matip and moved him into a better position because he had the best view of how the move was developing. 'Static, static, static,' he said while shaking his head.
The Mane 'penalty'
Would almost certainly have been scrubbed out for offside had it gone to VAR. Mane was a couple of inches offside. Here are the shot maps from the first-half:
Half-time
There is plenty of needle out there now, with Luis Suarez, a man who inhabits the nasal cavities of the world's great defenders, irritating Liverpool's back four with a tendency to fall over at opportune moments matched only by Aston Villa's Jack Grealish and constant hectoring of the referee. Liverpool have had their chances, Mane in particular, had a very decent shout for a penalty, which I think if he was onside should have been given, and should have scored when put through by Henderson. They need to improve their set-piece delivery and get Robertson behind Sergi Roberto rather than crossing from 25 yards out.
45+2 min
A couple of uncharacteristic errors have crept into Van Dijk's play today. His usual assured control has let him down twice. Matip has been the pick of the Liverpool defenders so far.
45 min
Matip makes the third crucial intervention of the half to stop Coutinho as he ran through on goal. Barcelona scream for a penalty as he falls, Suarez leading the chorus and he even has a swipe at Alisson who gives him a telling off.
43 min
Messi and Suarez make yellow card gestures at the referee when Messi is tackled by Robertson and Milner makes sure with a bodycheck. Messi rolls over three times and Milner is given a lecture but not a booking.
42 min
The crowd howls in protest at hysterical tempo when Fabinho dares to block Messi. The referee is unmoved and Messi gets back to his feet and adjusts his shinpad to make a point. Mane, having his shirt tugged by Sergi Roberto, is also not helped by the referee.
40 min
Liverpool free-kick on the right after Lenglet, beaten by Salah, yanks him back by the shoulder. It's parallel with the 18-yard line and Milner takes. Not good enough. Busquets heads clear.
38 min
Milner digs out a Hail Mary shot from 30 yards that fizzes about three yards wide and clatters into the advertising backboards. He struck it sweetly but from that distance and without the height it was never beating Ter Stegen even had it been on target.
36 min
Chances at both ends after Ter Stegen makes a weak punched clearance. Van Dijk mops up after miscontrolling a pass then Liverpool break and Henderson with a deft pass plays Mane through in teh gap between Pique and Sergi Roberto. Only the keeper to beat from 12 yards, he hacks his shot over the bar.
34 min
Better from Liverpool down their right, flooding into the space behind Jordi Alba and whipping over a cross taht Sergi Roberto just gets to before Mane and heads behind.
33 min
On the other wing, Joe Gomez is having terrible problems trying to contain the movement of Coutinho and Jordi Alba. Again they double up to take the ball around him and Coutinho centres. Fabinho makes the vital intervention.
31 min
Robertson has crossed from too deep a position a couple of times when Liverpool have men forward, hitting the first defender. He is a significant attacking weapon but just needs to be a little more patient tonight.
29 min
Liverpool were culpable of not pressing and Barcelona exploited the space. Very clever run from Suarez.
26 min
Raking diagonal from right to left finds Coutinho who, with Gomez standing off, spins and rolls it back to Jordi Alba. He whips in a terrific cross, bending it in front of Matip who was the near-post defender and Suarez angled his run between him and Van Dijk to meet it with a wonderful finish.
GOOAAAL!!
Barcelona 1-0 Liverpool (Suarez)
25 min
Liverpool substitution: Henderson replaces Keita and, because of modern, bull---- armband etiquette, Milner makes a great show of handing over the baton.
23 min
We resume after about 2½ minutes and Liverpool are immediately back on the front foot, releasing Robertson down the left and his cross is cut out by Lenglet. Then Mane, with a lovely insouciant flick, looking one way then using his heel to send Robertson to the byline tries to unlock the so far steadfast Barcelona defence on their right again.
21 min
Naby Keita is going to have to go off. When he went down after being fouled by Rakitic he clutched his left ankle but it seems to be his groin that is causing him most pain now. He is grimacing and waiting for the cart to take him off. Jordan Henderson is stripping off his tracksuit.
19 min
Liverpool free-kick on the left, a yard in from the hoalline, a yard from the box. Delayed while a pitch invader is removed. Robertson chips it to the back post, aiming for Van Dijk, but Rakitic heads it clear.
17 min
Coutinho cuts in from the left on to his right in the old familiar way and bends his shot straight at Alisson who takes it, as they once said, in the bread bin.
15 min
While Messi is stalking the referee demanding the penalty, Liverpool break at pace and Salah storms up the inside-left channel with Barcelona backing off. He turns in and out then instead of shooting from 22 yards tries to slide Mane in behind and pushes his pass too close to Sergi Roberto.
13 min
Keita stops Messi with a knee into his knee, more inescapable than malicious. A couple of phases after the free-kick Coutinho burns Gomez off down the left and centres. Messi peels into the middle and looks certain to meet it with a left-foot shot. Robertson sticks with him and makes a perfect sliding block. Messi tries to recycle and screams for a handball when he knocks it at Matip's hand from a range of about two inches.
11 min
Rakitic wipes out Keita with a dramatic but not particularly dangerous sliding tackle. Liverpool concede possession from the free-kick far too easily. A little more adhesiveness up front required.
9 min
Liverpool free-kick after Suarez slides in on Milner and knocks him off his feet, catching him across the top of the foot with his studs. Fabinho is tucking in on the right of the centre-backs when Liverpool have the ball and the full-backs bullock forward.
7 min
Gomez joins Salah to try to overload Jordi Alba but Liverpool lack precision to make the extra man decisive.
5 min
Barca arc the corner tamely beyond the back post. It's very end-to-end and from Alisson's clearance Mane bombs into the box from the left, making a diagonal run. He stops, checks which forces Pique to bundle into him from the back and send him sprawling. Looked worthy of a penalty but the referee doesn't give it, waves play on and thus takes VAR out of the equation.
3 min
Great block by Matip after Rakitic gets the luck of the bounce and raises his left leg, shut-that-door style, to flick a pass into his own path. He sprints towards the left post but instead of shooting squares to Vidal, or tries to, allowing Matip to knock it behind.
2 min
Salah makes good progress up the Liverpool right. He faces Jordi Alba up then turns on the afterburners to skate inside and into the box. He tries to shimmy and feint Lenglen into moving aside to make space for a shot but he can't trick the France centre-back and rattles his left-foot shot into his shins.
1 min
Coutinho has a quick raid up the left, accelerating past Milner and lays it off down the flank to Suarez who has split away from Matip. Suarez cuts back on to his right foot and floats a long cross straight down Alisson's throat.
Pennants are exchanged
Bro shakes exchanged between Messi, Milner, the referee and his three assistants. Wijnaldum, according to BT Sport, will be at the tip of the diamond, or 'False 9', or 'Revie Plan' main man..
The teams are in the tunnel
And all we can hear after the Barça anthem is 'Allez, allez, allez'. My colleague JJ Bull will be pleased to have an evening enjoying Steve McManaman's co-commentary without the distraction of blogging.
Klopp on the formation
We don’t change really a lot. Whoever plays, we always have a diamond from time to time. We had to be creative and that’s what we were so we’ll see how it goes.
Bobby wants to play and the medical dept told me it’s good, but we had to make sure he doesn’t have to start. But we have him on the bench and that’s OK.
The players are limbering up
Alisson let in four in the quarter-final at Camp Nou last year though couldn't do much more to prevent the two own goals. And in spite of his obvious disappointment, Roma won the second leg 3-0 to go through on away goals to play Liverpool in the semi.
A centenary of sorts
1⃣0⃣0⃣ ©
�� #Messi is making his 100th start as Barça captain tonight.
���� #BarçaLFCpic.twitter.com/5awoK8FUNn— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) May 1, 2019
Liverpool's formation
It'll be a diamond, I'm sure. If Milner is on the right of it he will have to keep shuttling over to the flank, stand up to Vidal and make himself an implacable obstacle for Jordi Alba.
Jurgen Klopp speaks
It's a special game. I've been in the business for 17 years and it's my first time in a competitive game that I play them. Would I choose Champions League or Premier League - if I chose Premier League then maybe people would stop asking me about it. It's not all about Messi but it is quite a lot about Messi and that's OK. We want to try to squeeze everything out of the season and it brought us here so let's give it a try.
For those of you watching in black and white
Barcelona Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Pique, Lenglet, Jordi Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Vidal; Messi, Suárez, Coutinho.
Substitutes Cillessen, Nelson Semedo, Umtiti, Alena, Arthur, Dembélé, Malcom.
Liverpool Alisson; Gomez, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho; Milner, Wijnaldum; Keita; Salah, Mané.
Substitutes Mignolet, Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, Henderson, Shaqiri, Origi, Firmino.
Referee Bjorn Kuipers (Holland)
For connoisseurs of bus slogans
Here's Liverpool's:
Jamie Carragher's thoughts
For every team, coach and player in Europe there is in one trophy that matters more than any: the Champions League.
Except at Liverpool. They stand alone in craving their domestic title more.
Even when the semi-final draw was made, the primary focus of the club’s supporters was how a two-legged tie with Barcelona might impact on the Premier League bid.
The contrast with last season - when Liverpool were far behind Manchester City domestically - is stark. Anfield is famed for its European nights, but against Porto in the last round it was relatively low key, as if the team was easing its way into the final stages of the FA or League Cup. Strange as it sounds, there have been moments during this season when European progress has felt like a consolation.
That changes now.
Read the full article: We killed the game at the Nou Camp in 2007 - but this Liverpool team can hurt Barcelona.
Liverpool fans have been in their element this afternoon
This is class from Liverpool fans in Barcelona this afternoon warming up for tonight �� (@emiliabonaECHO) pic.twitter.com/3uV1Cwt5Ti
— Football Away Days (@AwayDays_) May 1, 2019
So both managers have opted for caution
Arturo Vidal comes in for Arthur, Mr Hyde for Dr Jekyll which undermines a piece what I wrote this morning on the Barcelona No8. Hazards of the trade. How to read Liverpool's selection? Gomez comes in to for his greater defensive strengths when faced up by Philippe Coutinho and Jordi Alba? Are Liverpool going for a midfield diamond with Naby Keita at the tip?
Barcelona XI
���� XI Barça
⚽ #BarçaLFC— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) May 1, 2019
Liverpool's starting XI
�� #UCL TEAM NEWS ��
Our line-up to face @FCBarcelona…— Liverpool FC (@LFC) May 1, 2019
Some pre-match reading
Paul Hayward on Leo Messi: Just when you think Messi’s soft destructive power has peaked, and veneration can climb no higher, new altitudes are achieved
Die Meister, Die Besten
Good evening and welcome to live coverage of 2018-19’s second Champions League semi-final, first leg tie and I can think of few better settings for it than Camp Nou. They will be giving it the full Mes Que Un Club treatment tonight, with the placards and anthem, the chapel and the steps up from the dressing rooms. Liverpool fans, even the ones who push civilians in fountains, will, no doubt, strain every vocal cord to make themselves heard from their exile at the top of the third tier.
This will be Liverpool’s 11th European Cup semi and Barcelona’s 15th (though they qualified for the first final they won in 1992 when the group stage succeeded rather than preceded the knockout rounds). Liverpool have a far better conversion rate, winning eight of 10, losing only to Inter in exasperatingly dodgy circumstances in 1965 and Chelsea in 2008, Barcelona have won half of theirs, the most recent 2015 when they knocked out Bayern Munich but have gone out three times at the hand of English clubs - Leeds, Manchester United and Chelsea, and beaten only one, Chelsea in 2009.
Liverpool have the system and style to pick off the Liga champions if they can establish control of midfield. Both teams utilise their full-backs to similar effect, encouraging them to push high to be the principal creative forces but without midfield dominance, and particularly negating Sergio Busquets and Arthur’s short-passing. No team is better at pressing relentlessly and from such intelligent angles as Liverpool and again it’s the likeliest path to discomfiting the key players in Barcelona’s defence and midfield. If Mohamed Salah can keep Jordi Alba pinned back, the risk to Liverpool’s famous unbeaten record in Camp Nou can be shrunk.
Barcelona’s fluidity of movement and sensationally gifted players will be strenuously difficult to stifle however good Liverpool’s tactics and execution are. First legs can be cagey. Tonight’s should not be.
