Barcelona news: Valverde reveals Messi is still trying to get over the defeat against Liverpool

What's the story?

Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde revealed that Lionel Messi is trying to get over the Blaugrana's UEFA Champions League defeat against Liverpool.

In case you didn't know...

Barcelona failed to end their Champions League trophy drought this season as they were knocked out by Liverpool during the semi-final stages of the tournament last week.

The Blaugrana were in the driving seat to make it to the final after securing a 3-0 victory in the first leg of the tie. However, the English side responded brilliantly during the second leg and secured a 4-0 victory at Anfield, beating the Spanish side 4-3 on aggregate.

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi scored a brace during the first leg at the Camp Nou but he struggled against the Merseysiders' high intensity approach at Anfield and was far from his best during the match.

The heart of the matter

Speaking to the journalists after Barcelona's LaLiga win against Getafe CF at Camp Nou, Ernesto Valverde revealed that Liverpool's defeat left a bad taste in Lionel Messi's mouth.

He said:

"For us, a victory was essential to get rid of the ghosts in our heads.

"Everyone will bounce back, although at the beginning it's hard. We have the Copa del Rey final in mind.

"Messi is making an effort to overcome the bad taste in his mouth. We all had high hopes to be in the Champions League final and we have to move forward.

What's next?

Barcelona will make a trip to Gipuzkoa to play SD Eidar for the final game ot the LaLiga season on May 19. After that, they will square off against Valencia FC at Benito Villamarín Stadium in the final of the Copa del Rey on May 25.