And if Liverpool concede first at Anfield, they'll get taken to the woodshed. Barca won't panic even if Liverpool score first at Camp Nou. Valverde is far too pragmatic for that. The second leg is where any chasing of the tie will happen unless Barca go down 2-0 early at Camp Nou.
If they score first at Camp Nou, they will sit deep and compact and break from deep. Alba then cannot overlap with any certainty and your midfield will have to take risks mindful of the disparity in pace and stamina - for this not to happen you'll have to perform at a vintage as a team I'm not sure you're capable of anymore. You have effective players who aren't devastating: Suarez on his last legs, Coutinho who I don't think anyone would bet their house on to deliver, Dembele, who is erratic and barely trusted to start these games. Your midfield does not score goals - you're a frontrunning team, which is perfectly fine so long as you don't concede.
I think you're going to find Liverpool more stifling than you realise. You've mentioned superiority of players and midfield whilst not acknowledging tactical planning and what they bring to the table. I believe Liverpool are the worst team you can face in this year's competition, not because they are an amazing side, but because they are pretty much custom made to really get under your skin and disrupt your flow as well as you not having a prayer on their counters unless you betray your own game (Alba) which would blunt your attack and make you over reliant on you know who.
Not that he can't do it, moreso it's a tricky condition to put upon him.
And again, Barca's midfield is MUCH MUCH better than Liverpool's. Liverpool's midfield outside of Fabinho is dreadful. Rakitic is comfortably better than any midfielder they have.
As above. Nobody's disputing man for man or technical level just raw effectiveness, where Liverpool's midfield enables the line ahead of them aptly and achieve their objectives effectively in Europe for two seasons straight now. It's not a fluke, they are good at what they are tasked to do. Busquets better roll back the years!
I do agree that Liverpool's counter attack will be an issue, but this is the same Liverpool that lost to Red Star, PSG (with their midfield getting annihilated), and Napoli (without registering a single shot on target) They've struggled for stretches against Fulhams of the world and have had the jammiest results on the season of all the big teams remaining.
They're a more polished product now and it takes a lot of work to suppress their midfield. They got jittery with nerves but seem to be over that now, unfortunately.
Again, they're a great team, but only on this forum are Liverpool heavy favorites. People here have seen far more Liverpool than Barca since this forum is more EPL focused.
They're not a great team, but they are very good at what they set out to do and that's all that matters.
I think the Messi fest ensures a lot of people watch Barca all season long. I don't think you're an unknown quantity anyway. La Liga isn't the key factor for assessment anyway, just your body of work in the CL.
Liverpool goes through plenty of lulls where they look terrible, Salah is hit or miss (he's had some awful stretches and fares poorly on average against the big teams, poor record against the top 6) but Mane is on fire and Firminio is obviously solid. But Suarez is more than capable or producing magic although in fairness he's just as capable of giving us 80 minutes of garbage. I think Liverpool will struggle against Dembele since they'll be so concerned with Messi.
I think I've covered this in my posts. I think if you don't compromise, the space in behind your fullbacks will actually be your downfall. To me, this is where the tie will be decided, that and how Busquets performs.
Liverpool is also still very focused on the league while Barca can afford to rest players. Barca are fuming over the Roma debacle. They are on a mission. They have yet to lose a single match this entire tournament while Liverpool have lost several. As much as you say if Liverpool get chances against Barca they could put on the pressure, if Barca get the chances Liverpool kept giving Porto, Liverpool could just as easily go down 2-0 by halftime if they aren't careful. Even Chelsea recently was very unfortunate not to make it 2-2 after Liverpool went up 2-0.
Should be a great tie either way.
By 'great' let's hope that is you putting on a clinic rather than it being a knife edge match or a fire fight as I don't favour you in a back and forth contest with a team of superior fitness.
