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What's the story?
Statistics have revealed how Lionel Messi failed again at the big stage as Liverpool knocked out Barcelona from the UEFA Champions League semi-finals last night.
In case you didn't know...
Barcelona enjoyed a comfortable 3-0 win against Liverpool at the Camp Nou in the semi-final first leg, thanks to a Luis Suarez strike and a Messi brace. The Catalan giants went into the second leg as overwhelming favourites, more so after injuries ruled out Liverpool stars Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino. But they were handed a 4-0 defeat at Anfield, crushing their dream of European glory.
Barcelona endured similar heartbreak when Roma knocked them out last year in the quarter-final stages as they blew away their three-goal lead in the second leg. Liverpool showed the same resilient and relentlessness which broke Barcelona's spirit and ultimately sent them crashing out of the competition.
Despite the setback, Messi is enjoying another historic season and leads the Champions League goalscoring charts with 12 goals. The 31-year-old is also leading the race for European Golden Shoe with 34 La Liga goals so far this campaign.
Speaking after the match, Valverde said:
"They were better and we have to accept it. The scoreline was 4-0 and when that's the case there are no excuses. Their second goal hurt us massively and the third one came in straight after that."
"They played well, and we have to congratulate them for reaching the final.”
The heart of the matter
Messi was pivotal as Barcelona defeated Lyon and Manchester United in the previous knockout rounds before coming up against Liverpool, against whom he scored twice at the Camp Nou. But the Argentine endured a lacklustre night at Anfield and statistics depict his failure to step up again when his team were trailing.
A report from Marca state that the Blaugrana captain provided only 35 successful passes against Liverpool in the second leg, while misplacing six. Messi was also dispossessed 17 times and failed to win fouls, which is extremely unlike him.
The Argentine has now failed to score in away games in the Champions League semi-finals since he found the back of the net against Real Madrid in the 2010-11 season.
What's next?
Barcelona, who have won La Liga and have reached the Copa del Rey final, will next face Getafe on Sunday.
