Barcelona put one foot in the final of the Champions League (3-0), thanks to a double by Messi and another goal by Luis Suarez, who hid a discreet match of the Catalans against Liverpool , who deserved to take the tie more open to Anfield Road.
Valverde sacrificed the positional game seated Arthur and equalized the physical deployment of the opponent putting Arturo Vidal. And Barca proposed to the 'reds' a round trip that was about to cost him expensive at the start. But in the end, he achieved pure gold from a duel that was complicated at times.
Liverpool, much more accustomed to the exchange of punches, went to look for the Barca very high, unable to pause the shock, accumulating loss after loss and beginning to feel the burden of the Klopp team.
But as Rakitic said on the eve: in this Barça, Messi stands in front and the others follow him. The Argentine star ended the disconcerting start of his teammates going down to receive the center of the field to prevent the team split in two.
Two flashes of the '10' past the quarter of an hour ended with two separate shots of Coutinho, the first at the hands of Allison and the second too crossed. Barcelona, which was being dominated, hit first.
Liverpool, who had lost Keïta through injury, midway through the first half, continued to press but, despite the mobility of Salah and Mané, did not reach clearly the goal defended by Ter Stegen.
And then, Jordi Alba appeared, in one of his internships on the left, to put a center in the small area. Luis Suárez threw himself with everything and hunted the auction to send it to the back of the net. It was his first goal in the 'Champions' since April 4, 2018. And what a goal.
El pase de Jordi Alba y el gol de Luis Suárez... 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/yzOeQFkgbC— Siempre Cules (@Sempre_Cules) May 1, 2019
At 26 minutes Barça already sent in the semifinal and, in a crazy first part, began to feel confident to go for more. The English, accused the both and lost some intensity, but made each error of the azulgranas a real threat.
A high shot by Mané after a pass from Henderson and a deflected shot from Milner from the front were, after half an hour, the only visiting opportunities in the first half.
Liverpool left for the tie after the restart, and almost achieved it in their first two approaches. In both, Ter Stegen deflected to corner the shots of Milner and Salah.
The Barcelona retreated back and insisted on the direct attack instead of betting on possession. They were the worst moments of the local team and Valverde decided to change Coutinho for Semedo, overtake Sergi Roberto and move to a 4-4-2 to gain balance and possession.
The Camp Nou, full to bursting tonight, realized the delicate moment that crossed the team and decided to increase the environmental pressure, but the club was still chasing shadows instead of defending with the ball, as is natural in him.
But football is not always fair and the locals found the second in the first clear arrival of the second half. A quick transition that ended with a shot to the crossbar of Suárez, whose rejection was pushed by Messi to empty goal to make the 2-0 to a quarter of an hour to the end.
Klopp, desperate in the band, played the letter of Firmino, reserved for his muscular problems, but this course Messi already warned him: he wants "that beautiful and desired cup" called 'Champions'.
The Argentine star burst it to the square in a free kick to make the third, go crazy Camp Nou and add both 600 Barca.
— Fútbol Guaraní (@guarani_futbol) May 1, 2019
In the last minutes, Liverpool tried to overcome the blow looking for the goal that kept him alive for the return in Anfield, but the misfortune was primed in the set 'red', when Salah crashed a shot to the stick with Ter Stegen practically beaten.
Although it could still have been worse for the British team. In the last play of the added time, Dembélé, just entered the field of play, failed a clear counter, finishing only at the hands of Alisson.
- Data sheet:
3 - Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto (Aleñá, min.94), Piqué, Lenglet, Jordi Alba; Sergio Busquets, Rakitic, Arturo Vidal; Coutinho (Semedo, min.60), Messi and Luis Suárez (Dembélé, min.93).
0 - Liverpool: Alisson; Gómez, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Milner (Origi, min.84), Wijnaldum (Firmino, min.78), Keita (Henderson, min.24); Mané and Salah.
Goals: 1-0, m.26: Luis Suárez. 2-0, m.75: Messi. 3-0, m.82: Messi.
Referee: Björn Kuipers (HOL). He showed yellow card to Lenglet (min.38), Fabinho (min.81) and Luis Suárez (min.81).
Incidents: First leg of the semifinals of the Champions League played at the Camp Nou before 98.299 spectators.
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