1-0 Barcelona - Suarez
This is what he did to score from that free kick?
https://twitter.com/PrimeReus/status/1123698485692444675
He also committed a foul. That said, that angle is poor and you can't even see what contact actually occurred. I wouldn't call it a 'punch', and I'm not sure I'd call that violent conduct. If I were running VAR and only had that angle to work with, I'd throw my hands up in the air and say 'meh'.
Now, in MLS and CONCACAF - the answer may be different, because they automatically send off for any clear deliberate contact to the head. Mane would have been off, too. Mane should know better than to react to Vidal.
Did the flailing arm actually land.
And that's a foul on Fabinho 7 days a week and twice on Sunday. You don't get to obstruct a guy like that, even if he's flailing at you.
But I'm still not sure that punch landed, and it's a free kick to Barca every single time.
I might actually beat Messi in a fight
The natural closed fisted flail towards the head of a player 6 inches taller.
Maybe Fabinho deserved it. But you are one of the greatest players ever without knowing exactly what your body is doing in response to a player trying to block your run.
It looks too awkward and weird to think it was deliberately thought through.
I’m really not trying to apologize for him...just mocking him.
but I can't see how that was anything but intentional.
Vidal was a real headache from box to box yesterday for Liverpool. Losing Keita really hurt.
The little things can make a huge difference, and they were just missing that slightly better final ball and slightly better finishing yesterday.
Match could have easily finished 3-2 or something similar.
A lot of teams play their best, it could have been close... but they end up losing 3-0, 4-0 or 4-1.
get out the lawn chairs.
Man Utd record with Ferguson impressive.
Barca with a cycle of coaches... unbelievably extraordinary.
From what I could watch, Liverpool was at worst equal. Especially with Keita on the field. Finishing and some better service was the main difference. And Messi's fantastic free kick.
Seriously though, Liverpool just came up short putting the ball in the back of the net.
Second leg is going to be dynamite, but Barca goes through. Why? Barca already won La Liga and will rest everybody vs Celta this weekend. Liverpool has a lot to play for vs Newcastle, away.
And yes, Barca will win their 6th “Orejona”.
Can feel the 4-1 Liverpool win/defeat coming next week already. Would be fitting.
Really good but not good enough. Harsh scoreline indeed. I have some beefs with some Klopp decisions. Gini up front was useless. Gomez over TAA was questionable. But Barcelona showed more quality when it counted. I still, however, think that free kick given to Messi was weak. Any time he went down it was a foul.
That 1 should come in about 90+4. Just to make sure the kick to the groin completely severs things.
free kicks I have seen this year. Messi is an assassin. Liverpool has played well but Barca has been better.
It looks like his arm reacts to getting brushed
But there is a link that shows it from other angles. It went in pure. I'll see if I can find the link.
Edit, found it, check out the second video at the link
beating at Madrid...I sympathize.
Vidal was a brilliant start over Arthur for this game. I hate his guts but he was a terrific agitator and met Liverpool's physical play head on.
For context, I'm your fellow Madrid sufferer & this season is embarrassingly indefensible. I can't stand Barca nor Pep's smug mug when he was there, but did always have a soft spot watching Xavi/Iniesta's genius together (F Busquets and Mr. Shakira), and Messi is objectively a brilliant player. This is certainly a good team, but IMO their old teams would run them off the pitch, especially with flakes like Coutinho & Suarez who have talent but don't always show up. 3-0 will be a steep climb, but after a wretched United team knocked out Qatar and Spurs came back on City, I hope Klopp pulls one off for the ages before losing to a young Ajax.
would handle this flavor of the team I have been impressed with Barca this season. I think you underestimate Suarez and what he has done this year. He is second in La Liga in goals and he absolutely destroyed our beloved Madrid in the first match. I would still put Suarez in the top 3 #9s in the world and he is a perfect compliment to his best friend Messi.
Coutinho is a mystery to me. He has obviously had a bad year and was surpassed by Dembele in every way. I do not see him at the Camp Nou much longer though I do like him as a player.
I do not share your wishes my friend. I will always pick a Spanish side over EPL. I hope Tottenham gets boat raced by Ajax and I hope Barca adds another 5 goals to embarrass Liverpool out of the tournament in front of their fans. Barca needs to be careful though...they have a history of under performing in 2nd legs of Champions recently and Liverpool is capable of scoring in bunches.
Finally made it to the Bernabeu last year, and while it was an off week, it was an amazing experience & actually become a dues-paying socio in person there! Adjusting for the relative historical ceilings and CR7 as a Rushmore vs. 2 very good college players, this year somewhat reminded me of ND basketball - can't replace Ronaldo nor Bonzie/Farrell, but definitely didn't see this level of collapse either. Sounds like Hazard & Jovic are on the way; I have a soft spot for Ha-mez if he can fit in under Zidane; and I do think we make a run at Mbappe down the road as he's given PSG a fair shot by now.
W/r/t the CL, it's a bit of a case by case thing for me - would gladly pull for Villareal, Valencia, Bilbao, etc over Man City, Chelski, Munchen, etc but am torn on the Barca/Atleti duo, and Ajax has been a joy to watch. As you alluded (completely agree on Suarez pairing perfectly with Messi; just don't trust his consistency long-term), I think those two will run roughshod over Daley and the youth, but hopefully it's a fun final to watch, and at least the terceradecima gave us a little more breathing room at the top.
Milner should've had the equalizer. Hit it straight at the keeper. Ugh.
Suarez and Messi can ead
Ok mostly just Suarez
That was lucky. Sometimes the ball bounces your way and sometimes it doesn't.
Barca looks like it may win the whole thing
Messi just ended it.
Jordan Henderson has been trash since he came on.
He didn’t come up with the game plan to play a high line and give them the wings.
And it's not his fault that he and Keita are completely different players. I'm not sure how you replace such a direct/disruptive player with one whose game is predicated on passing.
Notwithstanding, had Mane converted his chippy, we'd probably be talking about Henderson's beautiful cross to set up Mane instead of Alba's decent one that set up Suarez's great finish. And at 1-1 it would have been a completely different game.
He did not play poorly. Liverpool didn’t play poorly. They bossed the game and their great players didn’t convert their opportunities. Barca’s great players came through in the important moments. 0-3
and you're right about Keita - he can't do what Keita does, hence he was not in the lineup. He was still trash. He's slow, he doesn't settle a ball well, and he's ill suited to playing against the top teams.
It ultimately falls on Klopp that he didn't find some bit of depth to cover for Henderson's deficits. I believe it was Bear's first round draft pick Stan Thomas who was once asked about being such a bust as a first round pick and failing to meet first round expectations who said "I didn't draft me in the first round".
He wasn't trash. He was ill-suited for Klopp's game plan...which was bold to say the least. With Firmino out he used Gini up to and chose to have Keita as a hybrid box to box play maker. He was to account for Firmino's incredible work rate while asking Gini to help cover the wing to allow Mane to be a threat up top more. He's literally the only guy that couldn't have gotten hurt in order to pull that off. So now Keita gets hurt and you have four midfielders, no natural striker and no play maker. Rather than defend, Klopp chose to play an open game. He wanted goals. He was prepared to concede. Our front line failed to convert.
Henderson was most certainly not trash. And I've never heard anyone complain that he's slow. Because he's not. If you want to say that he's not as direct as you want or that he doesn't have great footwork. Valid. But as a box to box midfielder, he was darn good against one of the top teams in the world. He was part of a midfield that dominated Barca the entire time he was on the pitch (save the last 5 minutes when they pushed for a goal). Mane and Salah let us down. They both had gimmies. 2-3 is a very good result especially when one goal is a moment of sheer brilliance by Messi.
He was trash long before tonight.
He'll have a hand in the equalizer and/or winner. I'm willing to bet your house on it!
I really need to post how he's worthless. Then my wager would be guaranteed to come true. I can't do that as he has been good as of late. Hopefully half-time allowed him to get settled.
Any minute now right?