Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona: 3 things we noted

Liverpool stunned FC Barcelona 4-0 in a memorable second leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinal last night at Anfield. It was one of Liverpool’s most remarkable victories in European football and left the Barca faithful shell-shocked.

Liverpool registered a 4-3 aggregate win to make it to the final after Barca had won the first leg 3-0. Liverpool will now play against the winner of the Ajax-Tottenham tie at the final in Madrid on 1 June.

Divock Origi and Georginio Wijnaldum scored a brace each to hand Barca one of their worst defeats of all time in Champions League football. It was almost a repeat of last season’s quarterfinal featuring Barca, where they lost 3-0 to AS Roma in the second leg in Rome after having won the first leg 4-1.

We take a look at 3 things we learned from yesterday's match.

#1 Liverpool got the early goal and dominated proceedings in the first half

Liverpool’s intent was clear from the very first minute of the match, and they went gung-ho in pursuit of goals. They also got the elusive goal quite early in the match, as Divock Origi scored his 5th goal of the season in the 7th minute of the match.

Liverpool was without their regular forwards, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino, both of whom had injury problems. Origi and Xherdan Shaqiri made it to the starting eleven, as Liverpool played with a 4-3-3 formation, with Sadio Mane as their third forward.

Liverpool had played a 4-3-1-2 formation in last week’s defeat against Barca, as Salah and Mane had played as their two forwards. However, they went back to a familiar 4-3-3 formation yesterday and dominated the first half. They had almost 55 per cent ball possession in the first half and played a high defensive line at times to take the attack to the Barca camp.

#2 Wijnaldum's entry in the second half changed the course of the match

Liverpool’s left-back, Andrew Robertson, who had a very good first half and took some powerful shots at the Barca goal, left the field with an injury, which paved the way for Wijnaldum’s introduction into the match after half time. The Dutch midfielder had started against Barca last week, but could not have much of an impact on the match.

He, however, made amends yesterday with a twin-strike in the space of two minutes, as Liverpool adopted a more direct approach and started playing more crosses into the box. First, he slotted home from inside the penalty box after having received a cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold in the 54th minute.

A couple of minutes later, he again scored from a cross by Shaqiri on the left flank. Wijnaldum’s header gave Ter Stegen no chance, as Liverpool were level with Barca on aggregate in the 56th minute of the match. He now has 13 goals in 137 matches for Liverpool.

Alexander-Arnold was in the thick of things again, as he delivered a quick corner to Origi in the 79th minute of the match, and the latter made no mistake in banging the ball home from close range.

#3 The combination of Messi and Suarez proved to be ineffective last night

Barca’s deadly attacking duo of Lionel Messi and Luiz Suarez couldn't have much of an impact on last night’s game. Messi and Suarez have scored 73 goals in total this season, and also featured on the scoresheet in last week’s match against Liverpool.

However, they struggled to find their rhythm last night, and could not trouble the Liverpool defenders much. Messi had taken a shot from the edge of the box in the first half, but it went wide. He also played a delectable through ball to Suarez in the second half, but the latter could not beat Alisson Becker, Liverpool’s goalie.

Barcelona introduced Nelson Semedo and Arthur Melo after conceding 3 goals, but they could do little in changing the course of the match. It was yet another disappointing night for the club in Europe, as they again failed in their pursuit of winning their first Champions League title since 2015.