CAPACITY 99,354, decibel levels ear-popping, fear factor unfathomable. “It’s just a stadium,” according to Jurgen Klopp, prompting a tetchy reply from Barcelona via their Twitter account: “This is Camp Nou. Our home. Our temple. Our fortress,” declared the Catalans.
If the Liverpool manager was aiming to get under the skin of the newly-crowned champions of La Liga ahead of tonight’s Champions League semi-final first leg, the signs are he may have succeeded.
Everything in moderation, though. If Klopp had mused that Lionel Messi “is just a player”, for example, the sound of hysterical laughter would have rebounded from the Mediterranean coast across Europe to Stanley Park on Merseyside and right down the Kop itself. The German isn’t that naïve, however.
Yesterday, midfielder Ivan Rakitic said the Barcelona squad would follow the “best player in history” wherever he leads.
"Whenever our captain says something, the rest of us are there to follow in his footsteps," added the Croat.
"Leo has been a league champion in 10 of the last 15 years. If he is happy to win every title and win every game what can you say about the rest of us, we are even more eager, if possible.”
Messi has 46 goals to his name this season, the most recent clinching Barca’s eighth La Liga title in 10 years. He was the catalyst behind the humiliation of Manchester United in the quarter-finals of this competition. In all, he has registered 663 goals in 811 appearances for Barcelona and Argentina. He has his sights set on a record breaking sixth Ballon d’Or. So far, so daunting.
And yet, and yet, and yet. It is four years since Barcelona last won the European Cup, that coming in a 2015 victory over Juventus in Berlin. Since then, Messi & Co. haven’t made it past the quarter-final stage as fierce rivals Real Madrid notched a three in-a-row of gongs under Zinedine Zidane.
Last year, the five-time champions conceded four to Roma in their exit; the year before that, Juventus put three past them; the year before that, Atlético Madrid did the same. So whatever other feats the Argentine genius is capable of, preventing Ernesto Valverde’s side shipping goals at the highest level isn’t one of them.
Ultimately, this tie will boil down to who can wreak the most havoc. Lionel Messi or Mo Salah? Sadio Mane or Luis Suarez? Phil Coutinho or Roberto Firmino?
PFA Player of the Year Virgil van Dijk will fancy himself to keep the chaos in Liverpool’s box to a bare minimum, but where Messi is concerned the main responsibility for damage limitation will not rest with the Dutchman. For this job, the Reds will need nothing less than a great Scot. Step forward Andy Robertson. The stage is yours.
