BARCELONA 0-4 LIVERPOOL: A PERSONAL REPORT...

70% Possession = A 0-4 Loss…

Barcelona 0-4 Liverpool

A vehicle fire at the northern end of the M40 meant a detour through Knowle to Warwick and Junction 15, from whence the drive to Bicester was otherwise uneventful. There were however no parking ticket machines in the lower parking-lot at Bicester North railway station, much to the incredulity of a number of Liverpool fans, not to mention myself, clad in a Dynamo Dresden polo shirt. Quite obviously, paying by mobile phone was the only option and of course this incurred a 40p surcharge, taking the fee from £4.50 to £4.90. A rip-off…

Alive with red and white, under a warm sunny sky, Wembley again did not disappoint, although Barcelona certainly did. Overcoming a shocking (for them) 50%-50% possession statistic to dominate 70%-30% by the end of a 0-4 drubbing, the Catalans promised, procrastinated and pithered through ninety minutes, whereas Liverpool harassed, harried and hit on their rather languid opponents. 

THE TICKET...

Busquets, of the angular, awkward, slightly non-athletic gait but who is also usually aware, accurate and aesthetic in his distribution and creativity, was buffeted, bruised and badgered by Lallana, Wijnaldum and Stewart, the results of which brought a goal for the Scousers. Caught unprotected by Stewart’s challenge, as Barca folded immediately after the interval, Busquets was mugged and not quick enough to recover as Origi raced away past Mathieu’s rather weak challenge and shot between the legs of the unconvincing advancing replacement goalie Bravo for 3-0. Well, Bravo, Liverpool…

THE PROGRAMME...

Busquets relies on the awareness and positioning of Iniesta, Rakitic, Roberto, or Rafinha to be at his effective best, but Turan and Denis Suarez failed to provide this consistently. Turan too often laboured in that almost disinterested manner he projects and Denis Suarez was rather predictable in his midfield manner, thus leaving Busquets open to dispossession and interception. Indeed, Busquets' woefully short pass back towards Camara set Lallana running and the midfielder was involved again, nutmegging the rather obtuse Masherano, before Mane shot past the unemotional German ter Stegen. Clyne’s earlier run had seen Mane have a shot deflected over the goal-frame too. The Reds would capitalise on this pressing game several times during the contest.

GREAT TO BE AT WEMBLEY...

‘Pool also exploited a considerable weakness at right-back for Barca before the break, where Vidal struggled to contend with the ball skills of Coutinho and even Milner tricked the defender and got by on a couple of occasions… Roberto would replace the ailing Vidal at 45 minutes, who was twice more left floundering as half-time beckoned, despite getting some aid from Denis Suarez. Camara however, was too often left to deal with the Reds’ offense and also the speed of Clyne alone, with little support from the one-paced Turan, or the indecisive, line-hugging winger Munir, who rarely looked likely to threaten the Scouse defence. Camara did quite well though, although he would be replaced by new left-sided defender Digne for the second period. He was adventurous and impressive but more importantly, Roberto plugged the Vidal leak on the opposite flank.

LUIS SUAREZ & MESSI: A PLEASURE TO WATCH...

Mascherano and Mathieu were quite careless at times in central defence, despite one or two saving challenges each but they were about as reliable as Bill and Ben the Flowerpot Men, floundering like their puppet strings were being manipulated by an inebriated puppeteer. Indeed, Mathieu was responsible for the second concession, for he had been inexcusably robbed, rifled and ravaged by Mane, who raced to the right byeline onto Origi’s back-heel and as Henderson lurked at the near post, Mascherano kindly crumpled and nudged the ball sloppily into the net past Bravo’s meek and abject fall.

MASCHERANO: NOT AT HIS BEST...

Coutinho and Emre Can had earlier caused consternation for Barca and yet although the former had driven a decent chance too high, FCB were closer to scoring in the opening 45 minutes, after going behind. Messi, whose passing left a good deal to be desired early on, chested a Luis Suarez flicked pass into his own path but shot against the right upright, following Busquets’ back-heel and Turan’s pass. Turan’s deflected shot was well stopped by Mignolet’s legs and Milner prevented the rebound from being netted then the lively Luis Suarez fastened onto a fine left-flank centre by Munir, a rare occurrence but he too was denied by the ‘keeper from an angle. 

CAMARA: WORKED HARD...

Despite dominating the second period, after goals two and three were conceded before some fans had returned from urinating or replenishing their bellies with more beer, Barca rarely threatened the Liverpool defence, in which Lovren was outstanding at times. Too many times Roberto turned back inside to feed the midfielders, too few times was he able to deliver the ball into the ‘Pool 18 yard box and so a Messi drive, blocked by Lovren was the closest they came to a consolation Wembley goal. 

SAMPER: COMFORTABLE IN POSSESSION...

Liverpool should have added to their score before the added time killer by Grujic but when Messi erred Firmino curled a shot wide, when passing to one of his supporting colleagues might have been a better option. But Mane’s isolated run and shot wide was merely another rare attack by the Reds. The last goal was the result of another mugging, this time of Iniesta, and Markovic eventually clipped a pass left for Grujic to nod upwards and over the embarrassed Bravo from 17 yards, the ball dropping sweetly into the right corner of the net. 

ROBERTO: ADDED SOME CONTROL...

Messi, often playing near the half-way line, before departing, and Luis Suarez, never gave up trying, both were given fine ovations as they left the field and Liverpool coasted the closing stages, although stubbornly refusing to offer the ghost of a chance to their illustrious opponents. 

Digne looked very good for the Catalans on this showing and Samper again looked comfortable on the ball in the latter stages, although obviously the game had been lost by some distance by then. Pique steadied the defence a little, Rakitic looked eager and Roberto, despite the tendency to avoid racing down the right flank, as Alves would have done, looked confident enough to command a starting slot for his team, surely in midfield. 

And there’s Rafinha, Neymar, Gomes, Alba and Umtiti to consider also…  

On returning to Bicester Station, I noticed that the one ticket-machine near the station’s entrance was, er, out of order. 

Another killing of 40p add-ons then…