Viewers of the clash between Liverpool and Barcelona have taken to social media in their droves tonight to absolutely tear into the Blaugrana, after their complete-and-utter bottle-job at Anfield.
Liverpool’s mission impossible
Jurgen Klopp’s men welcomed Barca to Merseyside a short time ago, for the second-leg of the Champions League semi-final tie between the clubs.
Liverpool entered the clash aware that a titanic effort would be required to secure a place in the competition’s finale, having fallen to a largely-undeserved 3-0 defeat in the tie’s reverse fixture at the Camp Nou last week.
Luis Suarez opened the scoring against his former side midway through the first-half, before a late Lionel Messi brace looked to have secured an insurmountable advantage for the Spanish champions ahead of tonight’s return-leg.
Wijnaldum and Origi down Barca
What subsequently took place over the last 90 minutes at Anfield, though, saw Liverpool secure one of the most high-profile turnarounds in the history of European football.
The Reds took the lead tonight with just 7 minutes on the clock, as a mistake from Jordi Alba eventually saw Jordan Henderson’s effort well saved by Marc-Andre ter Stegen, only for Divock Origi to slot home on the rebound.
The likes of Philippe Coutinho and Luis Suarez wasted golden opportunities to level things up as the clash advanced, before Liverpool made the La Liga giants pay for their wastefulness in a major way.
Incredibly, after an Andy Robertson injury forced Jurgen Klopp into introducing Gini Wijnaldum at the interval, the Dutchman went on to notch a quick-fire brace within 10 minutes of being introduced.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – MAY 07: Georginio Wijnaldum of Liverpool celebrates after scoring his team’s third goal with Trent Alexander-Arnold during the UEFA Champions League Semi Final second leg match between Liverpool and Barcelona at Anfield on May 07, 2019 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Wijnaldum’s pair of strikes would have seen the matchup head to extra-time, if no further goals were notched.
The hosts, though were not ready to rest on their laurels.
And, in a moment of genius 10 minutes from time, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s quick corner saw Barcelona caught napping, allowing Divock Origi to put Liverpool ahead on aggregate with a superb finish.
And this was how things remained until the final-whistle, on a night that saw an absolutely courageous Liverpool send spineless Barca crashing out of Europe.
‘Bottlers’
The Blaugrana’s defeat at Anfield means that Ernesto Valverde’s men have now thrown away 3-goal first-leg leads to be eliminated from the Champions League in consecutive seasons.
As such, on a night where the likes of Sergio Busquets, Philippe Coutinho and, crucially, Lionel Messi all failed to perform when it mattered most, fans have since inevitably torn into Barca’s ‘bottlers’ in unforgiving fashion across social media: