UEFA Champions League: Barcelona 3-0 Liverpool; 4 key battles that decided the game

#4 Ernesto Valverde vs Jurgen Klopp

He might not show it often, but this is the face of a man who fully knew what he was doing

The battle behind the screens, this is a battle not many expected Barcelona to win. It really goes to show how far away from the know internet armchair experts are, when it comes to judging tactics.

It is generally agreed upon that Valverde is not the shrewdest when it comes to things like this, while Jurgen Klopp is widely considered one of the sharpest in the modern game. Seeing this game, however, you wouldn't be so sure.

Klopp started the game with Joe Gomez in the team on the right back instead of Trent Alexander-Arnold, possibly because Gomez is the more defensive player of the two and he wanted to solidify his team's defensive play. But what happened was that Liverpool sorely missed TAA's attacking crosses in the game, as time and again they saw Gomez's futile attempts into the box nodded away with impunity.

Valverde's subbing off of Coutinho for Nelson Semedo was also something off a masterstroke. He sensed that Lenglet was having a hard time fending off Mohamed Salah alone, and used a defensive option in the form of Semedo to nullify Salah's pace on the ball as well as to exploit Gomez on the right.

A 3-0 result definitely does not do justice to how Liverpool played through the night, and they will still think they have a way into the tie during the home leg. A lot of that will depend on how they set up, and if it is anything like this, the going will be tough.