Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona: 3 players who cost Barca the Champions League final

Barcelona have completely emulated their disastrous collapse against AS Roma from last season's Champions League after Liverpool successfully hammered the Catalans by four goals to nil at Anfield. The La Liga champions had every advantage at their disposal even before the match began.

Except for Ousmane Dembele's injury case, the club had a fully fit squad who were well rested because they have secured the La Liga title. Ernesto Valverde's side also had the upper hand knowing that Liverpool were without Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino in the match. Surprisingly, they were outclassed in every aspect by heroic Jurgen Klopp's men.

Lionel Messi and Arturo Vidal seemed to be the only Barcelona players who were willing to win the match while the rest of the players showed a highly uninspiring display. Barcelona have now failed to clinch a single European title in 4 years and, they have only themselves to blame for the disaster.

Here are 3 players who cost the Blaugrana the game:

#3 Philippe Coutinho

Coutinho flopped upon his Anfield return

The Brazilian has been Barcelona's biggest disappointment this season as he has failed miserably to justify his €142 million price-tag. He might be the Catalans' most expensive player but his display on the pitch has been one of the worst recently.

Valverde has done his best to give Coutinho chances despite the player letting him down time and time again. Once more, he failed to make a considerable impact for Barcelona's attack as his one shot on target was arguably his only meaningful contribution in the match.

He did nothing noticeable to help his team in defense while missing a considerable 22 percent of his passes. He also lost the ball once, failed to create even a single key pass, and could not deliver a single successful corner despite attempting to take the kick 3 times.

Valverde quickly reacted to the player's uninspiring display by substituting him early in the second half.

#2 Clement Lenglet

The French defender made headlines when Barcelona bought him for €36 million last year. He has looked set to become the future of the Catalans by winning Valverde's trust despite enduring a tough time at the beginning of the season.

He has given Samuel Umtiti a hard time and even left the former Lyon defender starving for minutes after the 25-year-old recovered from a lengthy injury. However, he did become one of the biggest let downs for Valverde in such an important match this time as he disappeared in several of Liverpool's goals.

He could not provide the much-needed aerial protection for Barcelona despite his tall stature. He was shaky throughout the match and did not put in a decent effort to stop Liverpool's first goal. He was also at fault for ball-watching Divock Origi's goal in the 79th minute.

#1 Jordi Alba

The Spanish defender was one of Barcelona's heroes when the Catalans crushed Liverpool by 3 goals at Camp Nou, thanks to his sublime cross which led to Luis Suarez's goal at the 26th minute.

He was all geared up to wreak havoc at The Red's backline once again as he had enough rest and did not have to deal with pesky Mohamed Salah at Anfield. Unfortunately, there was the 20-year-old Alexander Arnold who gave him a nightmare throughout the game.

Alba's woeful defending led to Liverpool's first goal and, he also let Lionel Messi down by missing a sitter before the half-time. He also gave the ball away to Arnold which eventually resulted in the Georginio Wijnaldum's goal at the 54th minute.

He had become the beginning of Barcelona's collapse since Liverpool's second goal, a very contrasting performance from his first leg display at Camp Nou. A wasteful presence up front coupled with erroneous defending has led him into a match to forget at Anfield.

Edited by Jidonu Mauyon