The pain of the Catalan giant
(Baonghean.vn) - Once again, Barcelona had to stop at the threshold of the Champions League final following a similar scenario as last season. The defeat against Liverpool in the second leg of the semi-final was like a knife carved deep into the pain and pride of the Catalan giant.
Old book re-edited
Historically, the Catalan giant has also brought home 5 Champions League titles in 1992, 2005, 2009, 2011 and 2015. This achievement has helped the Nou Camp team to stand out from the rest and be one of the best teams in the most prestigious tournament on the continents in the open era.
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| Liverpool created a historic comeback against Barcelona. Photo: Reuters |
Not only successful in terms of titles, Barcelona also built for themselves a Tiqui - Taka style of play that once dominated the football world. They also own many top attacking stars of world football, typically superstar Lionel Messi, one of the influential players and contributors to the resounding successes of the Nou Camp team.
However, after winning the Champions League in the 2014-2015 season, the Catalan giants could not once again step onto the highest podium of the most prestigious tournament in the continent. They often had to stop at the threshold of heaven with relatively similar scenarios.
Remember, in the Champions League arena last season, the Catalan giant played explosively from the group stage until the first leg of the quarter-finals at home against AS Roma. In that quarter-final match, the Nou Camp team easily crushed the representative from the "boot-shaped" country with a score of 4-1.
With that score, many people affirmed that Barcelona would have a sure ticket to the semi-finals. However, on a day when AS Roma players played with more than 100% of their form, they created a spectacular comeback when defeating Messi and his teammates with a score of 3 goals to nil to win a ticket to the semi-finals thanks to the away goals rule.
This season, that scenario was repeated once again. Barcelona had to watch Liverpool march confidently into the final when they were defeated painfully by the Reds with a shocking score of 4-0 at Anfield, in the context that they had a complete advantage of 3 goals in the first leg.
Barcelona have fallen once again in a scenario not dissimilar to last season. They have fallen victim to historic comebacks in the Champions League.
Why?
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| Barcelona players blamed themselves for not converting at least five chances to score against goalkeeper Alisson. Photo: Reuters |
Barcelona travel to Anfield for the second leg of their semi-final with plenty of leverage. They kept the Reds out of the game in the first leg at the Nou Camp. They have a superstar who is leading the scoring charts in Europe's most prestigious tournament and a goalkeeper who has only conceded six goals in the competition. The Nou Camp side have also learned their lesson from last season's defeat to AS Roma.
Besides, Valverde's armyalso had an advantage when the Reds did not have the services of two excellent attacking players, Salad and Firmino. Players who are considered irreplaceable factors in the way The Kop plays.
However, those advantages suddenly turned into a nightmare when Barcelona let Origi and Wijnadum score two goals to create a historic comeback at home at Anfield.
It is worth mentioning that in this defeat, Liverpool did not necessarily play better. The Kop played with a very simple style of play and took full advantage of the mistakes in the Catalan giant's defense to score. They also showed determination and played with more than 100% of their form. They burned themselves out to correct the mistakes they made in the first leg.
In this bitter defeat, Barcelona players also blamed themselves for not being able to convert at least 5 chances to score against goalkeeper Alisson in a situation where just 1 goal would have completely changed the outcome of the match. Coach Valverde's teamalso lost themselves when Liverpool scored an early goal. They played in fear of the "ghost" of the past. Therefore, the Catalan giants had to fall to the Red Devils of Merseyside just like they lost to AS Roma last season.
It can be said that the painful defeat against Liverpool has made Messi's promise to bring the Champions League title to the Nou Camp at the beginning of the tournament meaningless. More importantly, this defeat once again touched the unhealed wound they encountered last season. A defeat that will be mentioned many times in the most prestigious arena of this old continent.