A dream comeback for Liverpool as Barcelona collapse at Anfield
Though they were given a tough time by Liverpool in the first leg, Barcelona went to the
Anfield with a 3 goal advantage. Surprisingly Valverde selected an unchanged
line-up.
Liverpool were attacking from the word go. Within the first 5 minutes
one could see that Busquets was not his usual self. But what made it worse was
Jordi Alba was doing some of the silliest things in defense. One such Alba error
resulted in the first goal as he gave away the ball near the Barca box.
Liverpool latched on to it and Origi was able to finish off the ball that
bounced back from ter Stegen’s save.
Both Pique and Lenglet were put under tremendous pressure by their own,
unpredictable team mates who were doing more damage than the opponents.
Meanwhile the defenders of Liverpool stood tall and bullied the Barcelona
attackers.
Fabinho, Robertson and Henderson were particularly targetting Messi
trying to provoke him into some kind of extreme reaction. A hapless Messi tried
to bring it to the referee’s attention which did not help in any way. But Messi
refused to be provoked despite the continuous harassment.
Vidal tried all that he could to connect with Messi who was one of the few trying to attack, while Rakitic and Roberto were forced to defend.
Liverpool had the momentum and they took full advanatage of the chaos at the
back.
But Barcelona were also on the move forward as Messi forced a save from
Allison. Saurez, Coutinho missed half chances while Alba missed a sitter
towards the end of the first half after being set up by Messi. It was 1-0 at
halftime in favour of Liverpool.
As the teams came out in the 2nd half, Valverde had made
no changes. There was more aggression from the Reds as the Barcelona’s midfield crumbled,
Still no changes from Valverde. Jordi Alba once again gave away the ball in a
dangerous position. A low cross from Alexander-Arnold was emphatically blasted
into the net by Wijnaldum as Liverpool went up 2-0.
Liverpool were piling the pressure as they kept winning corners. During
one such corner, an unmarked Wijnaldum was given the space in the Barcelona box
and he did not miss as he slammed in a header to make it 3-0. All they needed
was one more goal to go through. Then came the much needed change – Semedo
coming in for Coutinho.
While Messi won a free kick for a foul by Matip, there was nothing much
he could do with it as he hit the Liverpool Wall. He also had one more shot
parried off by Allison. Soon Valverde made another change. He took out Vidal and brought in Arthur.
Finally came the best moment of the game for Liverpool. The Reds had won
a corner and while Alexander-Arnold was readying himself to send the cross in,
came a second ball into the field from the ballboy. While the extra ball
got cleared, Barcelona let their guard down, Being alert, Arnold sent a quick
ball in which was met by Origi who scored the 4th goal while
the entire defense of Barca were caught off guard. Soon Malcom came in for
Rakitic.
As the match edged towards the final whistle, Arthur and
Busquets tried to attack and there were a few chances created but the watchful
Liverpool defenders were able to fend them off. Thus ended
Barcelona’s UCL run and Messi’s dream.
Analysis:
Valverde never learnt from last year:
If Valverde had been more timely and cautious he could have prevented
this disaster. He went in with a recipe for disaster and it turned out to be
one too. Seriously Barcelona should look at a new coach for their team.
The selection of Coutinho was a huge surprise as the Brazilian was
ineffective in the first leg. Similarly having only Sergi Roberto to deal with
Sadio Mane against whom he struggled at the Camp Nou was another shocker.
Valverde could have easily swapped Coutinho for Semedo and left the attacking
responsibilites to just Messi and Suarez. Or starting with
Malcom could have been another option. The youngster though inexperienced
always showed more intent than Coutinho.
Could not see the logic behind Valverde waiting till eternity to make
the much needed change ? Semedo was substituted for Coutinho only after
Liverpool scored their 3rd goal.
Late into the match came another bizarre substitution. Instead of substituting
the awfully ineffective Busquets, he took out the one guy who offered the most
resistance in midfield – Vidal - to bring in Arthur.
These repeated, tactical mistakes of Valverde was the primary reason for
the team’s disastrous exits in UCl for the past two seasons.
The Busquets and Jordi Alba factor:
In the first leg Alba concentrated more on attacking and he was very
effective. It did affect Lenglet’s performance as he had to double up for
Alba from time to time – but still there was little damage. Jordi Alba unfortunately had a horrendous day defending in the second leg.. He was
heading balls right into path of the lurking Liverpool defenders instead of
clearing them and made little effort to make amends.
But the defenders had one more team mate to deal with –Busquets. He was
way too casual that affected both the attackers and the defense.
With the hefty defenders of Liverpool crowding out the Barcelona forwards, they
were bound to loss possession. It was here that Busquet’s off day gave more
trouble to the Barca defense. He was ineffective in gaining possession in
midfield. The problem with Busquets was that he could go from brilliant to awful in a jiffy.
The ineffective forward line:
Suarez, Messi, Coutinho and Alba missed chances to get an away goal. The
sitter that Jordi Alba missed in the first half was the best chance that fell
Barcelona’s way on a forgettable night when most of the players failed to chip
in.
The hurt of being a Barca Fan:
Overall it was a humiliating day for FC Barcelona at Anfield. It was Roma of last year, all over again.
If, as a fan, I was deeply hurt by the team’s performance, I cannot
imagine the pain Messi must have undergone watching his team,
after putting his heart and soul into every game. On that day, even if Messi
had scored 10 goals, FC Barcelona would have ended up losers.
More than anger
there was sadness to see a shattered Messi who was in total shock as the
Barcelona defense committed blunder after blunder which were fully utlized by an
aggressive Liverpool.
Personally, I do not consider Messi a God or GOAT or what ever other nonsense
that many call him. I always considered him a wonderful human being who worked hard to raise his game every time and tried to win every game. But this year was different.
While Barcelona had
been alternating between good and bad, Messi had been so brilliant that it
almost felt like he was playing with the Argentine team, especially when the
chips were down. Thankfully, many times, he was able to lift his struggling team with his inspirational performances.
He was the reason why they were crowned Liga Champions so early. He was
the reason why they were in the Copa del Rey finals. He was the sole reason why
they went into the 2nd leg against Liverpool with a 3 goal advantage.
Messi could try and fight against even the toughest of opponents. But
Messi could never fight against his own team who were pathetic beyond belief. The
inspired Liverpool deserved to win. Despite the constant bullying and abuse that
Messi underwent during the game, he
tried whatever he could. But his own team and coach let him down totally.
After the game, the UEFA had him undergo doping tests and he had to confront
angry Barca fans at the airport who hurled abuses at him. Its beyond
imagination, how much he suffered on the painful night.
Unlike the other two greats of Barca - Xavi and Iniesta - Messi had been
part of this transitional team and held them together. If he had left for
another club in search of glory, the club would have fallen apart like Real
Madrid. But he chose to stay behind to help rebuild and that meant less titles, more
hard work and disappointments. He would be held responsible even if the team played badly.
The Messi of today is much greater that the Messi who was winning
trebles and Ballon D’Ors at will. This Messi is someone who is giving back to
the club that made him a legend. For me, he will always be way above the rest
for being such a relentless believer and a superlative performer.
FC Barcelona and Valverde deserved to loss to an inspired Liverpool who
were fantastic. But I would never forgive the Barcelona team and coach for
laying to waste one man’s imperious (and at times almost superhuman) efforts to
carry this team to glory on all fronts.
But I believe everything happens for good and probably this disaster would lead to something positive for FC Barcelona next season. But I am sure of one thing, that the Lionel Messi, whom I have watched for so long and love so much, would never give up.
Vamos Messi!
Image Credits: Google Images
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