Liverpool were beaten 3-0 by Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals at the Nou Camp earlier this week, but that’s not where the story ends.
The Reds performed well, but were undone by moments of sheer brilliance from Barca players – especially Lionel Messi who is one of few to beat Alisson from outside the box this season with a spectacular free-kick.
However Duncan Castles, a journalist who seems to take a pop at Liverpool every chance he gets, has slated Jurgen Klopp after the performance in Spain.
“What Messi did was incredible. As for Jurgen Klopp, I think his best performance last night was in the post-match interviews and the post-match press conference,” he told The Transfer Window podcast.
“I note he described and on multiple occasions described Liverpool’s performance in Camp Nou as ‘the best away game we’ve had in the Champions League.’
“Now, I think that is a ridiculous statement to make. I think he made a number of huge tactical errors in that match.”
Let’s get one thing straight here – the score-line was horrendous, but there was little wrong with our performance. The Reds played Barcelona at their own game and dominated large portions of the first half.
It’s not as if the semi-final first leg was played at a neutral ground; they can fit almost 100,000 spectators in the Nou Camp and well over 75,000 of them will have been home supporters.
Still – the lads put in a performance that we can be proud of and we were just simply outdone by the genius of Messi and Luis Suarez, as have every other team they’ve faced at one point or another.
Jose Mourinho said it best – the former Manchester United manager said the Reds didn’t deserve to lose 3-0. “Liverpool was brave in the approach,” he told RT. “I don’t think in the past 20 years many teams in the Champions League they beat Barcelona in all possession in the Camp Nou.
“Liverpool deserves much more than the 3-0 defeat, much more, but in the last two corners of the game, it could be 4-0 or 5-0, because the game was broken and then they couldn’t cope.”
So, yes, taking a 3-0 score-line back to Anfield is awful, but don’t go after Klopp saying he made error after error when we were simply left wanting in the finishing department in light of Bobby Firmino’s injury.
Castles’ comments are even a little disrespectful towards Messi and co. as he’s seemingly suggesting their brilliance had less of an impact on the game than our boss’ apparent idiocy.
What’s his problem?