FOLLOWING a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of FC Barcelona at Camp Nou yesterday, one cannot help but ask: Was the first leg of their Champions League semifinal the end of the line for Liverpool, or do The Reds have an endgame worthy of an epic blockbuster?
Liverpool needs nothing short of a miracle in the return leg. Otherwise they can just say goodbye to a back-to-back finals appearance and a chance to outdo their runner-up finish last season.
The way it looks, the Champions League climax is fast shaping up as a FC Barcelona vs. Ajax Amsterdam final. The Dutch club disposed of hosts Tottenham in the first semifinal last Wednesday, and head home to Amsterdam with a crucial away goal in the second leg on May 8.
On the other hand, Liverpool returns to Anfield emptyhanded.
Liverpool did everything right at Camp Nou, except find the back of the net. Barcelona, in contrast, were as methodical as they were efficient.
Ernesto Valverde’s Barca may have given up possession of the ball more than its fans have been used to, but the Catalan team delivered when and where it mattered.
On paper, manager Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool looked like the better team. The visitors had a bit more possession and made more passess. The Reds also created more chances, 15 to Barca’s 12. Liverpool did test Barca.
Luis Suarez’s 26th minute goal was more of a breather for Valverde and his men, but this spurred Liverpool to intensify its assault, controlling much of the second half. Barcelona, though, was up to task and seemed unwilling to give up an inch of territory. Plus, they have Messi.
Messi, as what we’ve suspected all along, is superhuman. Proof of that is his sublime free kick on the 82nd minute, as though the gods themselves guided the ball with a divine hand to follow a predetermined trajectory, to soar ever so slightly above a wall of defenders and curl with just the right velocity straight into that sweet spot called the top corner, beyond the outsretched mortal fingers of the poor goalkeeper Alisson.
As if that second goal wasn’t evidence enough that Messi isn’t of this world, let’s take a look at his first goal of the game on the 75 minute mark, the one that gave Barca a dominant 2-0 lead.
How on earth can someone find himself at the right place at the right time?
Again, only an invisible force would have propped Messi in that exact spot where the ball would land after bouncing off the woodwork from that Suarez strike. And yet no goal so easily scored was so devastating.
Leading the tournament with 12 goals, Messi must have an infinity stone or two stashed with him somewhere.
Liverpool striker Salah, on the other hand, most likely had left behind his goalscoring amulet, as his 84th-minute strike off a Firminho rebound could only manage to hit the post, denying the visitors a crucial away goal.
As the referee blew his whistle, the score stood at 3-0.