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Liverpool traveled all the way to Catalonia to face Barcelona in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals and the home side got a crucial 3-0 victory over the visitors. For Barcelona, the goals were scored by Luis Suarez and a brace from Lionel Messi.
The match itself was a brilliant one and in the first half, it looked like an equal contest. Barcelona drew first blood when Jordi Alba picked out Luis Suarez from the left and the latter made no mistake in front of goal. The first half ended 1-0 in the home side's favor.
The second half of the match saw Liverpool come out and give it their all but they were lacking that final touch in front of goal. The second goal of the match was scored by Messi after Suarez' rebounded shot fell perfectly at the Argentine's feet.
The third goal was a trademark Messi free-kick and that makes Liverpool's job in the second leg much tougher. In this slideshow, we take a look at the three reasons why Liverpool lost to Barcelona:
#3 Lack of defensive awareness from the away side
This is not something you would say for a defense that has Virgil Van Dijk in it but even the Dutchman couldn't keep that Lionel Messi lad quiet. But what would hurt Jurgen Klopp the most was the way that first goal went in.
There are many questions about how that first goal went in: One - why was Alba afforded so much space to pick out a pass in the box. Two - what was Van Dijk doing not marking Suarez.
Don't get it wrong, Van Dijk has been brilliant the whole season but in the match where he had to step up and perform, he fluffed his lines. The Dutchman arguably had the worst game in a Liverpool shirt and Klopp would be hoping that his defensive rock bounces back against Newcastle United.
#2 Lack of decisiveness in front of goal from Liverpool
When Klopp will look back on this game, he would just remember those opportunities that his players missed as you just cannot miss such great opportunities against a side like Barcelona as they will make you pay.
Throughout the match, the Reds had brilliant opportunities to come back into the game but they just weren't clinical. In the first half, Sadio Mane missed an opportunity much similar to the one Suarez put away on the other hand.
In the second half, Liverpool had better opportunities than the first and they just couldn't make their domination count in the first 20 minutes of the second half. Milner found Ter-Stegan on two occasions when he should have found the corner and Salah hit the crossbar when he had an open goal in front of him.
Liverpool should have had at least one goal in the match but that lack of decisiveness cost them in the first leg.
#1 Lionel Messi's masterclass
This is the single biggest reason why Liverpool lost the first leg by such a big margin. When Lionel Messi decides to step it up a gear, there is no stopping him and right now, I am out of superlatives to describe this man's genius. Give him that Ballon d'Or already.
Messi was up against a brilliant defense of Liverpool and he still managed to bamboozle us with his brilliance. The Argentine was Barcelona's influencer and everything attacking came from his foot. In the first half, he was picking out some lovely balls but they weren't converted into something conclusive.
In the second half though, Messi got the goal he deserved after he scored from the counter attack he started. The third goal was the one everyone will be talking about for weeks to come but it is something we have come to expect from the little man.
He struck a near perfect free-kick from about 35 yards out and beat one of the best goalkeepers in the world to score his 600th goal for Barca. Messi put in another dream performance and I can safely say, we are privileged to be witnessing him every week.
