Champions League: Barcelona 3-0 Liverpool, 5 men who won the game for Barcelona

#4 Jordi Alba

Barcelona v Liverpool - UEFA Champions League Semi Final: First Leg

The Spanish left back is one of the best in the world in his position at the moment, but against Liverpool, Jordi Alba had a huge test of character beckoning him on the pitch. He had to pit his wits against the phenomenal Mohamed Salah, who was having quite a fruitful second season for Liverpool. The Egyptian is currently the front runner for the Premier League Golden Boot as well, so Alba had his work cut out for the night.

However, on the field, Alba dealt with Salah with ease. Even though the Egyptian threatened to break away on quite a few occasions, he had a pretty quiet first half. This was because Alba rarely allowed Salah to play his natural game. But the Spaniard was not content by just keeping Salah quiet, he regularly moved forward and caused a lot of troubles on the other end. And in the 26th minute, Alba made a defining impact on the game.

Taking the ball from Coutinho on the left side, just at the edge of the penalty area, the Spaniard anticipated Suarez’s run in the box. He carved out a gorgeous ball that split the Liverpool defense into two and enabled Suarez to give Barcelona the lead.

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Edited by Jong Ching Yee