Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona: 3 things we noted
Liverpool stunned FC Barcelona 4-0 in a memorable second leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinal last night at Anfield. It was one of Liverpool’s most remarkable victories in European football and left the Barca faithful shell-shocked.
Liverpool registered a 4-3 aggregate win to make it to the final after Barca had won the first leg 3-0. Liverpool will now play against the winner of the Ajax-Tottenham tie at the final in Madrid on 1 June.
Divock Origi and Georginio Wijnaldum scored a brace each to hand Barca one of their worst defeats of all time in Champions League football. It was almost a repeat of last season’s quarterfinal featuring Barca, where they lost 3-0 to AS Roma in the second leg in Rome after having won the first leg 4-1.
We take a look at 3 things we learned from yesterday's match.
#1 Liverpool got the early goal and dominated proceedings in the first half
Liverpool’s intent was clear from the very first minute of the match, and they went gung-ho in pursuit of goals. They also got the elusive goal quite early in the match, as Divock Origi scored his 5th goal of the season in the 7th minute of the match.
Liverpool was without their regular forwards, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino, both of whom had injury problems. Origi and Xherdan Shaqiri made it to the starting eleven, as Liverpool played with a 4-3-3 formation, with Sadio Mane as their third forward.
Liverpool had played a 4-3-1-2 formation in last week’s defeat against Barca, as Salah and Mane had played as their two forwards. However, they went back to a familiar 4-3-3 formation yesterday and dominated the first half. They had almost 55 per cent ball possession in the first half and played a high defensive line at times to take the attack to the Barca camp.