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Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders has revealed how his team managed to stop the 'incredible' Lionel Messi in their famous 4-0 UEFA Champions League victory over Barcelona in 2019.
The Argentine had stunned the Reds in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final, scoring an audacious free-kick and netting a delightful strike.
Liverpool's hopes of reaching the final in Madrid were seemingly in jeopardy till they pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in the tournament's history.
Needing to score four goals to go through, Jurgen Klopp's side did just that as they successfully nullified the threat of the Blaugrana's legendary forward. The then-Barcelona captain was kept quiet throughout the second leg at Anfield.
Lijnders has now opened up on the strategy in dealing with the iconic Argentinian. He told 'The Coaches' Voice' (via EmpireOfTheKop):
"You never know because they have Messi; you see Messi on television, and you think he’s good, but when he comes here in front of the dugout, and he starts proper dribbling and proper playing – the speed is just incredible. Yes, he is not a pressing monster at that time, but what he did with the ball was incredible."
Messi wasn't the only attacking threat that night, with Barcelona boasting former Reds striker Luis Suarez and midfielder Phillipe Coutinho. Heaping praise on the Reds defenders for nullifying the Blaugrana's much-vaunted attack, he said:
“Big credit to Virgil because, if Messi, Suarez or Coutinho – if they face you towards your goal, you have a problem."
Lijnders continued:
“So, our whole idea was cutting the pathways and don’t let them face you; Fabinho was incredible with that. Jurgen always says: ‘The best player in the world, why would you allow them more space? Because of respect, and that’s the worst thing you can do’."
Lijnders added how the Reds 'pinned' the visitors in their own half, something the Blaugrana were not used to:
“So, the amount of times we could chase him from behind and come from the front for 2 vs. 1 situations was really important. Barca in La Liga will dominate the game on our half; they try to win the ball back and dominate you again – they are not used to being pinned back; that was a big part of our idea. The trick was to take 40% of the game away with this chasing attitude”.
How Liverpool's incredible heist against Lionel Messi's Barcelona unfolded
A UEFA Champions League classic without a question, Liverpool's 4-0 victory over Barcelona could stand the test of time. Not only did Liverpool not give Messi a sniff but they also put on one of the greatest performances in competition history.
They took an early lead through Divock Origi before Giorginio Wijnaldum scored past Marc Andre Ter Stegan in the 54th minute.
Xherdan Shaqiri added a header in the 56th minute brought the Reds level on aggregated. Origi then got another in what is one of the most incredible goals in the competition's history. Quick-thinking from Trent Alexander-Arnold in taking a corner kick early allowed Origi to poke home from close range in the 79th minute.
Barcelona were too stunned and overwhelmed to muster a response. The Reds went on to win their sixth UEFA Champions League title with a victory over Tottenham Hotspur.
