Liverpool are aiming to reach the Champions League final for the second season running.
Chris Kirkland has claimed that he hasn’t seen a team open up Barcelona as Liverpool did on Wednesday night in a ‘long, long time’.
Jurgen Klopp’s side suffered a 3-0 first leg semi-final Champions League defeat to the Spanish giants at the Nou Camp despite being the much better team on the night.
Luis Suarez opened the scoring in the first half against his former club before Lionel Messi added a second late into the second period. The little magician then showcased his talent when he netted a stunning free-kick.
All of this happened in the midst of Liverpool’s dominance because if they had won the game 3-0 then not many people would have batted an eyelid.
Speaking to Sky Sports News (01/05/2019 10:05 pm) after the match, former goalkeeper Kirkland claims Liverpool are still in the tie because both teams still have to play at Anfield, but he does think they were unlucky in Spain.
“You can never write Liverpool off at Anfield,” Kirkland told Sky Sports News. “3-0 flatters Barcelona. It’s almost absurd saying it. But it does.
“Liverpool were the better side on the night by far, for me. The way they played, they totally opened Barcelona up which I can’t remember the last team that has done that to Barcelona in a game of football for a long, long time, especially at the Nou Camp.”
When you don’t take your chances against a team like Barcelona and against a player like Messi then they will severely punish you as Klopp’s team found out.
In 2005, the Reds were 3-0 down to AC Millan at half-time in the Champions League final – the rest was history. In a strange way, they could take inspiration from that night.
Effectively, it’s only 3-0 to Barcelona at half-time and the Merseyside club will be backing themselves to prove their worth and inflict the same damage on Barca in the return leg in front of their owns supporters.
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