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What's the story?
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has recalled how he felt after Lionel Messi's masterclass against them in the first leg of Champions League semi-finals.
In case you didn't know...
Barcelona took a major step towards their first Champions League final in four years as they inflicted a huge blow to Liverpool. The Catalan giants enjoyed a 3-0 win against Liverpool, leaving Jurgen Klopp and his men with an uphill task in the second leg of the semi-finals.
Former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez opened the scoring while Messi took the game away from the Reds despite their valiant efforts. The Blaugrana captain struck twice in 75th minute and 82nd minute of the game to give his side a major lead to go with into the second leg.
There is no doubt that Messi is enjoying one of his best seasons with Barcelona. The Argentine genius currently leads the Champions League goalscoring charts with 12 goals and also leads the race for European Golden Shoe with 34 league goals so far this campaign. Messi also remains one of the leading assist providers in Europe.
Messi also netted his 600th club goal, which came in a sensational manner from a free-kick. With his brace, the Argentine has now scored 26 goals against English sides. Thanks to his exploits, the Spanish giants will be eyeing another historic treble as they are firm favourites to win the Champions League and Copa Del Rey.
The heart of the matter
Klopp revealed how he felt when Messi's exploits crushed Liverpool's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League and what he said to the Barcelona talisman.
In the pre-match conference, Liverpool manager said,
“I don’t know if I said something, really. At that moment, I might have said ‘why did you do that?!’”
Despite Barcelona's lead, Klopp insists that there is hope for his team.
“There’s hope and it’s football. We are not in a situation where we say it will happen 100 per cent but it’s football."
“The character of the boys....two of the world’s best strikers are not available and we have to score four goals to go through in 90 minutes."
What's next?
Liverpool will host Barcelona for the second leg of Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday night.
