Messilookstomakeupfor lost time in Europe Reborn Sturridge gives Klopp more options to explore
Barcelona captain targets Champions League triumph after winning just once in the last seven seasons
BARCELONA:AS Lionel Messi lay on the Wembley grass, his left hand grasping the Champions League trophy and his right pumping the air, he must have thought there would be many more European glory nights to come.
It was 2011 and Barca had beaten Manchester United 3-1. “No one has given us a hiding like that,” Alex Ferguson said.
They were so much better than the rest that many predicted a decade of European dominance after that mesmerising display. “We have a challenge with Barcelona, we all do,” Ferguson said.
Messi had scored his side’s second. Barcelona bounced in front of the photographers, the club’s name carved into the trophy for a fourth time. For the 23-year-old Messi at the front, it was a third Champions League triumph in six years. But there has been only one in the seven seasons since, when Luis Enrique led his 2015 Barca to a brilliant treble.
To make matters worse, archrivals Real Madrid have been crowned European champions four times and three times in a row since 2016.
Messi returns to Wembley to face Tottenham on Wednesday with happy memories but all of this weighing on his shoulders. For most players, four Champions League titles is unthinkable but for Messi, playing through this era of Barcelona, it feels light.
“It’s time we won the Champions League,” Messi told Catalunya Radio last month.
The club feel it too. Winning La Liga has become more routine than remarkable. Even last season’s double barely laid a finger on the disappointment of a third straight quarter-final exit, following a collapse at Roma when the Italian side overturned Barca’s 4-1 first leg lead.
Barca, with key players rested, failed to record a win in three consecutive league games.
They drew at home to Girona and lost to bottom club Leganes. Valverde persisted, and it was Messi’s turn on the bench against Athletic Bilbao. He came on, and set up the equaliser, but that only gave greater weight to the argument Barcelona cannot do without him. Tottenham depend heavily on Kane while Barcelona bank on
Messi's brilliance to get them goals. When the teams clash tonight, the performance of these two stars will be expected to go a long way in deciding the outcome of the match.
Messi had proclaimed at the start of the season that he would
bring back the Champions League trophy to Camp Nou and the match against Tottenham will be his first big test towards realising that dream.
Minutes played
Minutes/goal
LAST SEASON CL
Games
Minutes played
Minutes/goal Injuries to Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen means Kane may
not have the support he would require to trouble the Barca defence. That puts additional pressure on Son Heung-min to link-up well with Kane.
For Barca, there are Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho to
support Messi but they have issues as well. While Coutinho is still finding his feet, Suarez’s patchy form has been a concern. Despite a number of their
players linked to European heavyweights, including Kane, Spurs have managed to keep the core of the team intact.
While manager Mauricio
Pochettino hasn’t managed to add to his team strength as a majority of the funds have been diverted towards building the new stadium, he will hope that the current lot will realise their potential this time around.
Also, Spurs won’t be overawed
by their opponents as they have proved last season they can stand their ground against European heavyweights. Last edition, they beat Real Madrid and they held them to a draw at Santiago Bernabeu to top their group.
Games
Goals
Goals Barcelona will be without the injured Sergio Roberto as well as defender Samuel Umtiti, who faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines due to a knee injury.
The absence of the Frenchman
puts huge pressure on defensive partner Gerard Pique
(in pic), who so far this season has been error prone. He has committed mistakes that have proved costly. Pique was at fault for both goals in the 2-2 draw with Girona last Sunday, which cam after his failed attempt at a clearance gifted Leganes a shock 2-1 victory on Wednesday. Lokomotiv Moscow v Schalke,
Napoli v Liverpool, live on Sony Ten 1
&HD; (Thu)
PSG v Red Star Belgrade,
Tottenham v Barcelona, live on Sony Ten 2 & HD, (Thu)
Dortmund v Monaco, live on Sony ESPN & HD,
(Thu)
Atletico v Club Brugge, live on Sony Six & HD; (Thu) LONDON: It was a sight that just a few months ago would have been unthinkable — Liverpool a goal down in a big game, and Mohamed Salah hauled off by Juergen Klopp.
Klopp got the goal he craved for a 1-1 draw at Chelsea on Saturday that preserved Liverpool’s unbeaten Premier League start, not via Salah’s immediate replacement Xherdan Shaqiri, but another late substitute, Daniel Sturridge. A reborn Sturridge is now Liverpool’s joint topscorer so far this season with four goals despite remaining behind Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane in the pecking order.
That he has remained there to be counted on at all, though, is a huge boost to Klopp’s quest to both go one step further in the Champions League this season and deliver a first-ever Premier League title, 29 years after they last won the English top flight.
“Thank God he is here,” said Klopp after Sturridge’s sensational dipping effort from outside the box secured a point at Stamford Bridge.
“It would be really unlucky for both sides if he was not. He is in the best shape since we’ve worked together.”
Sturridge has endured an injury-ravaged three years since Klopp took charge. Farmed out to West Brom in January in a bid to refind his form and fitness, Sturridge’s hamstring went again in his third game and he never scored for the Baggies as they were relegated.
“He was always unlucky with injuries and stuff like that. That’s how it is, timing in life is pretty important,” added Klopp. “Now, the timing is perfect. We need him desperately and he is fit.”
Sturridge’s return further strengthens a squad already bolstered by the summer signings of Shaqiri, Naby Keita and Fabinho.
That contrasts starkly with the limited options available to Klopp when Salah went off injured just 30 minutes into last season’s Champions League final.
“We have a great squad, worldclass players, and he’s one of them,” said Virgil van Dijk, whose own $98 million move from Southampton in January has transformed Liverpool’s defence.
“Before I arrived at Liverpool, I said he was one of the best strikers in the league and he shows it when he’s fit. I know what he’s capable of. When he’s at his best by playing against him and seeing him in training with the hard work that he puts in and the positivity he brings.”