Champions League: 3 Reasons why Liverpool beat Barcelona
It was like something out of a game of FIFA. Liverpool walked into the clash as the underdogs, losing not one but three key stars including Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino before the game. The away side was Barcelona who had a three-goal advantage and just for added measure rested all their key stars over the weekend.
It seemed an absolutely impossible task for the Reds and yet for some reason, with the Kop behind them, it seemed merely improbable not impossible. But with the underdogs against Barcelona, the improbable has nearly always turned into possible with the ghosts of last season haunting their minds and memories.
And then it happened, an astute combination of a lot of things and brilliant tactics all worked in tandem to make it work. A sensational 4-0 victory and the Reds proved they do not depend on any one player with Gini Wijnaldum and Divock Origi smashing it home. Everything seemed to go their way, and they proved that sometimes an undying belief does take you all the way.
Here are three reasons why Liverpool beat Barcelona.
#3 Alisson Becker is worth every penny
First they spent a world record sum on Virgil van Dijk and then they did it again six months but this time it was for Alisson Becker. That effectively changed everything for Liverpool, giving them the boost they needed to move from a top four side to a title challenger. And today against Barcelona, against Lionel Messi, he proved to be more than good enough.
The first leg saw him humiliated by arguably and debatably the best player in the history with an absolutely gorgeous free-kick from just outside 30 odd yards. Today he made sure nothing like that would ever happen, proving to be more than a match against what looked like an exhausted Barcelona side.
However, he made four rather great saves, doing it so nonchalantly that it made everything look like it was in slow motion and walking towards him. Nobody managed to break his defense, with Jordi Alba, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi all trying their very best. It might go down under the radar, but Alisson certainly deserves any praise he gets.