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Barcelona look to finish the job, Messi masters English opponents - Champions League in Opta numbers

Liverpool and Barcelona clash at Anfield on Tuesday with the Spanish side holding a 3-0 first-leg lead. We take a look at the best Opta numbers.

Lionel Messi

London, May 7: The second leg of Liverpool's clash with Barcelona takes place on Tuesday, with the Spanish side on the verge of the Champions League final following a 3-0 victory at Camp Nou in the first leg.

Lionel Messi was the star of the show on that occasion, scoring twice - one a spectacular free kick - to add to Luis Suarez's opener against his former side.

Liverpool's task of turning the tie around is made all the harder by injuries. Jurgen Klopp confirmed that forward duo Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah will both miss the tie, while midfielder Naby Keita is ruled out after picking up an injury during the defeat in Spain.

Either Ajax or Tottenham will be the opponents in the final, with the Dutch side holding a 1-0 first-leg lead. Ahead of the game at Anfield, we pick out the best Opta facts.

2 – Liverpool are looking to become the third team to overturn a three-goal first-leg deficit in a European Cup/Champions League semi-final, following on from Panathinaikos in 1970-71 and Barcelona in 1985-86.

3 – Only on three previous occasions has a team been eliminated from a Champions League knockout tie having won the first leg by three or more goals. The last occasion it happened involved Barcelona last season, who won 4-1 at home against Roma but then lost 3-0 in the return fixture of the quarter-final clash.

2 – Barcelona have already won twice on English soil this season, having beaten Tottenham Hotspur 4-2 at Wembley in the group stage and then Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford at the quarter-final stage.

19 – Liverpool are unbeaten in 19 home matches in all competitions, recording 16 wins and three draws in that time. This is their second best run at Anfield under Klopp, trailing only a 25-game streak between January 2016 and January 2017.

2 – Barcelona have won both of their previous Champions League meetings at Anfield, recording a 3-1 victory in November 2001 and a 1-0 triumph in March 2007. They are the only away team to have won more than once at Liverpool in the competition.

5 – Barcelona have won just five of their last 18 away Champions League knockout ties (W5 D4 L9) but four of those victories have come in England, with the other against Paris Saint-Germain in April 2015.

26 – Lionel Messi has scored a total of 26 Champions League goals against English teams, more than any other player in the history of the competition, including six this season.

367 – Liverpool have not conceded in the Champions League at Anfield in 367 minutes, a run stretching back to Kylian Mbappe’s goal in September. The Reds have not kept five successive clean sheets at home in a major European competition since October 1984.

Story first published: Tuesday, May 7, 2019, 14:45 [IST]
Other articles published on May 7, 2019