Barcelona 3-0 Liverpool: 3 Reasons why Barcelona beat Liverpool
Liverpool traveled all the way to Catalonia to face Barcelona in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals and the home side got a crucial 3-0 victory over the visitors. For Barcelona, the goals were scored by Luis Suarez and a brace from Lionel Messi.
The match itself was a brilliant one and in the first half, it looked like an equal contest. Barcelona drew first blood when Jordi Alba picked out Luis Suarez from the left and the latter made no mistake in front of goal. The first half ended 1-0 in the home side's favor.
The second half of the match saw Liverpool come out and give it their all but they were lacking that final touch in front of goal. The second goal of the match was scored by Messi after Suarez' rebounded shot fell perfectly at the Argentine's feet.
The third goal was a trademark Messi free-kick and that makes Liverpool's job in the second leg much tougher. In this slideshow, we take a look at the three reasons why Liverpool lost to Barcelona:
#3 Lack of defensive awareness from the away side
This is not something you would say for a defense that has Virgil Van Dijk in it but even the Dutchman couldn't keep that Lionel Messi lad quiet. But what would hurt Jurgen Klopp the most was the way that first goal went in.
There are many questions about how that first goal went in: One - why was Alba afforded so much space to pick out a pass in the box. Two - what was Van Dijk doing not marking Suarez.
Don't get it wrong, Van Dijk has been brilliant the whole season but in the match where he had to step up and perform, he fluffed his lines. The Dutchman arguably had the worst game in a Liverpool shirt and Klopp would be hoping that his defensive rock bounces back against Newcastle United.