By George Aluo
Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, appears to have surrendered to Barcelona ahead of their UEFA Champions League semi final clash.
Liverpool after overpowering FC Porto 6-1 on aggregate would on May 1 storm Camp Nou for the first leg of the two legged semi final. The Reds would host the return leg on May 7.
To reach the semi final, Barcelona made a mincemeat of Manchester United whom they beat home and away…1-0 at Old Trafford and 3-0 at Camp Nou.
Klopp, while x raying the chances of his team in the potentially explosive clash against Barca, was quoted by Metro Sports (UK), as saying that the big headache is how to stop Barca’s talisman, Messi.
Klopp stated that rather than think about Messi, he would at the moment concentrate on how to win his EPL games and possibly beat Manchester City to the title chase.
Klopp said: “Thank God I have a few more nights to think about how to stop Messi. I think everybody tried it so far [stopping Messi] and nobody can do it. We still will try it. We’re looking forward to it, but we have so many jobs to do before we meet Barcelona. So, let’s first play the EPL games…”
Liverpool and City are in for a photo finish race in the EPL. Liverpool after yesterday’s game (Sunday) against Cardiff City away would play host to Huddersfield before hitting Camp Nou.
City, it would be noted, crashed out of the Champions League after losing on away goals rule to Tottenham in a duel that ended 4-4 on aggregate. Tottenham won the first leg by a lone goal and lost 4-3 away. With their Champions League exit, City’s manager, Pep Guardiola, has vowed that it’ll be fight to the finish in the EPL, as his side cannot afford losing out on all fronts.
Meanwhile, Messi has on his part warned his Barcelona teammates against the danger of making a slow start to the game against Liverpool, as they did against Manchester United.
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Barcelona, it is recalled, let a 4-1 lead slip against Roma last season and started sluggishly against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side at Camp Nou, conceding several early chances before Messi settled the tie with two goals in a devastating four-minute first half spell.
Liverpool, closing in on their first domestic league title in 29 years, would likely represent Barcelona’s toughest opposition to date this season and Messi knows his side cannot afford to be anything but 100% focused.
‘We cannot start like we did against Manchester United in the game against Liverpool…We had the experience of Roma; you can’t afford to make life hard for yourself because one mistake can knock you out of this competition. We have to be aware of that… We’re happy to be in the semis but we must continue,” Messi told reporters after the game against Manchester United.