Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp has hailed Lionel Messi as “unstoppable” after the Barcelona forward scored twice in a 3-0 Champions League semi-final first-leg win over the Reds.
Messi scored a seven-minute brace after Luis Suarez’s opener in the first half on Wednesday to reach 600 goals for the club.
Barca now have a huge advantage going into the second leg next Tuesday.
“In these moments, he’s unstoppable,” Klopp told a news conference after the game.
“Obviously we couldn’t defend the free-kick. What a strike. He’s a world-class player.
“The second goal – the 2-0 – was probably not the nicest goal in the career of Lionel Messi but it shows his skills that he’s there in that moment. But apart from that I was happy with how we defended.
“I’m a big admirer of him but my boys tonight didn’t show too much respect. They were there, tried with completely legal things.
“We didn’t treat him harshly or whatever to try to get him out of the game. We played just football and I like that.
“I knew before that Lionel is a world-class player and now I saw it again. I’m not too surprised, to be honest.”
Asked if his team still have a chance to progress, Klopp added, “Because it’s football, yes, but before this game we had a bigger chance, let me say it like this.
“It’s difficult. What can I say? It’s Barcelona. That’s difficult to avoid.
“Because it’s football, we should still try but it’s not a night for being really mouthy and saying, ‘It’s exactly what we wanted. It’s half-time, score an early goal and all that s***’. It will be another really difficult game.”
コメント