HT: Barcelona 1-0 Liverpool… Luis Suarez scores against his former club

Barcelona head to the break with 1-0 lead against Liverpool in the first leg Champions League semi-final clash, with Luis Suarez scoring his first goal in this season’s knockout stages of the competition.

Suarez sent the home fans wild on 26 minutes, latching on to Jordi Alba’s low cross into the box. The game has been fairly even, although Barca produced the one moment of quality to unlock to Reds’ defence to hold the advantage.

Neither sides could find a killer touch in a frantic start to the game, with Mo Salah and Lionel Messi both going close.

Barcelona began to find more space as the half progressed – particularly down Liverpool’s right-hand side – and just about deserve their narrow half-time lead.

Sadio Mane wasted Liverpool’s best chance, skewing over the bar on 36 minutes following an excellent through ball from captain Jordan Henderson.

No question that Barcelona wanted that half-time whistle to blow more than the visitors. Despite their 1-0 lead the Spanish champions are living on their nerves, constantly under threat of being pressed into a mistake. They look stunned by Liverpool’s athletic intensity.

Photo Credit: fcbarcelona.com

David Luiz heaps praise on Maurizio Sarri’s football style

Chelsea defender David Luiz says he ‘loves’ Maurizio Sarri’s ‘amazing’ approach to football.

Sarri’s take on high pressing and possession play, nicknamed ‘Sarriball’, has experienced mixed results in its debut season at Chelsea, but David Luiz urged the club to stick with the former Napoli boss.

“It’s his philosophy to have a lot of possession and create a lot of opportunities and he is trying to do that,” he told Sky Sports.

“I think he already did amazing because in the past everybody was saying ‘ah Chelsea don’t control the game, Chelsea don’t play with a lot of the ball, Chelsea just play counter-attacks’ and everybody was critical of Chelsea.

“Now we control the games and sometimes they criticise us because we are not winning the game with a lot of possession.

“I think his philosophy is amazing, he’s trying to play football, it needs time and we are trying to improve as soon as possible.

“I love it, it’s the way I think football is, the way I love football, the way I enjoy football, not just playing but watching, and I think I love his philosophy.”

Antonio Conte’s long-time assistant reveals Chelsea former manager’s interest in Serie A club

Antonio Conte’s long-time assistant Angelo Alessio has revealed that the Coach is ‘intrigued’ by Roma, ‘even if they fail to qualify for the Champions League.’

Roma seem to be leading the race to appoint Conte, with the former Juventus and Chelsea boss refusing to rule out the Giallorossi as an option, reports Football Italia.

“He’s a Coach that anyone would like to have at the helm of their team,” Alessio – who has assisted the 49-year-old throughout his managerial career – told Corriere dello Sport.

“Antonio has always said ‘I’ll go wherever there’s a valid project, for the long term and with guarantees.’

“He wants a project that then leads him to winning things, not just staying afloat. Roma have a new stadium in the pipeline, many projects that they want to pursue and a young team: why not?

“Theirs is a project that [Conte] can take into consideration. Antonio is open to various possibilities. The important thing is that there are guarantees.

“Antonio is intrigued by Roma’s project, even if they fail to qualify for the Champions League. There’s no foreclosure.”

Jurgen Klopp identifies other threats in Barcelona, warns his players ahead of Champions League cracker at Nou Camp

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has told his players about other threats in Barcelona, warning the team ‘are more than just Lionel Messi’.

The Catalan giants are scheduled to clash with Liverpool in the Champions League semi-final first leg at Nou Camp on Wednesday.

“Barcelona are more than just Lionel Messi, they have many threats,” Klopp told reporters at his pre-match press conference.

“Can we concentrate on Messi? In a lot of moments I believe that we should yes but if you only do that, there are 10 other world class players in their team who can decide the game in any moment.

“So it is not like this, they have the highest quality team and they are already champions of Spain.

“We know that Messi said already before the season started: ‘We want to bring back this cup’, and that sounded like a threat to me in that moment.

“So I think that all of us should try to play all of them – now we are here, which is fantastic, but we want to go to the final now as well.

“What can I say that is bad about this stadium? This is a stadium where I want my team to play football and want to play football – the best that my team can play.

“And I think that is allowed and that is why we will try, even though they have home advantage on Wednesday and that will of course switch to us next week.

“Then we will see who is able to use that home advantage more, and that is it – we know how difficult it is to play against them because of their obvious strength.”

Barcelona boss reveals his strategy to deal with Liverpool’s ‘suffocating pressure’

Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde has explained he has worked hard on a system to combat Liverpool’s ‘suffocating pressure’.

Jurgen Klopp’s team are known for their high pressing style and intensity, with the Catalan giants hosting them in Wednesday night’s Champions League semi-final first leg.

“You have to have answers to the impetus they take in the game and the suffocating pressure they place the opposition under,” Valverde told a press conference, as cited by El Mundo Deportivo.

“Their system is to get the ball quickly into their front three players and they utilise width and pushing their defenders forward, they want you to lose the ball in dangerous areas.

“You have to have the answers to that and know how to combat it effectively, because their attack is extraordinary.

“They have only lost one league game this season, but we are going to win the game because we are home and we are Barcelona.

“We must know that they will want to overwhelm us in the early stages because this is their usual plan, but we must try to take control of the game.”

Photo Credit: fcbarcelona.com

Manchester City star agrees to join Serie A club after taking pay cut

Reports in Italy claim that Manchester City defence ace Danilo has agreed to take a pay cut to join Inter, but his club want to see if better offers arrive.

Sky Sport Italia and Gazzetta dello Sport reported two weeks ago about the commencement of talks between the Nerazzurri and representatives of the former Real Madrid man.

The 27-year-old joined City in the summer of 2017 for €30m, and the Premier League side will want to recoup as much of that fee as they can.

According to Gianluca Di Marzio’s website, Danilo has said ‘yes’ to Inter and is prepared to accept a reduction of as much as €1m on his current €4.5m salary to ‘fulfil his dream’ of moving to Italy.

However, the Sky Sport Italia journalist warns that while City will not stand in the full-back’s way, they want to wait until the end of the season to accept the Nerazzurri’s bid of €15m plus bonuses.

Nonetheless, Football Italia adds, that would tie in with the wishes of Beneamata chief Beppe Marotta, who is waiting to learn whether his club qualify for the Champions League and who will be their Coach going forward.

Philippe Coutinho tells Barcelona what to do against his former club Liverpool ahead of Champions League showdown

Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho has warned Barcelona that they cannot afford to focus their attentions on Liverpool’s front three.

The Reds take on Barca at the Nou Camp in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday night.

The clash is the first time Coutinho will face off against his former club since his £140m switch in January 2018.

Liverpool have kicked on in the Brazilian’s absence, reaching the Champions League final last term and fighting for the Premier League crown this season, alongside their fine European form.

The front three of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino has again been at the centre of Liverpool’s success but Coutinho had a warning for his teammates.

“We will have to be aware of the whole team and do our job as we have been doing recently, keep our shape on the field and put in a good performance.”

Coutinho is looking forward to the prospect of facing off against his former employers, reports the Mirror.

“I spent five years at Liverpool and I was very happy there, but now I am wearing a different shirt, different colours, so it’s going to be a special game and I hope we can do our best,” he added.

Speaking ahead of the clash, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp insists his side still miss Coutinho.

“Yes, we miss Phil Coutinho a lot. He is a world class player. I loved working together with him, but we had to deal without him and we did well. That’s all I can say,” he said.

“When I first heard he wanted to go to Barcelona , I can’t imagine we were that good with it. But all good for both sides.”

Paul Pogba’s agent wants Barcelona’s prime target to join Manchester United or Bayern Munich

Paul Pogba’s influential agent Mino Raiola reportedly wants Matthijs de Ligt to join Bayern Munich, Manchester United or Juventus as opposed to Barcelona.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Barca remain in pole position for De Ligt after already completing a deal for his Ajax teammate Frenkie de Jong.

De Ligt featured in Ajax win over Tottenham in Champions League semi-final first leg in London on Wednesday.

However, the newspaper warns Raiola would prefer the defender to sign for one of their European rivals, among them Juve.

It comes after the 19-year-old admitted he had yet to make a decision on his future.

“I haven’t made a decision on my future yet,” he said on Instagram.

“For now I’m only focused on the end of the season with Ajax.”