Just saw it too on the official site...If he was apparently chilling in the room at Newcastle after the match and seemed good to go on Tuesday what exactly has happened in the interim??...This is a huge Blow and hope Klopp isnt holding him back for Sunday...Honestly without Bobby & Salah i dont see a comeback coming
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.th...d-salah-barcelona-champions-league-concussion He's OK but cant play cause a diagnosis of Concussion was made...To lose not one but 2 of our Front three now of all times must be the cruelest luck Ever. Our Mountain against Barcelona just got a whole lot Bigger....Bobby & Firmino are the ones most capable of producing moments of Genius to decide games and we need several moments on Tuesday night minus our two talismans..Hate to say it but i honestly dont see any way out. I would play Mane through the middle ,Shaq on the Right and Divock on the Left.
Potential secondary injury from the concussion. We’ll probably win the match tomorrow but, really, not scoring in Barcelona has stacked the deck against us.
Klopp will have to come up with something creative for us to have a chance. He doesn’t like Shaqiri in the front 3 of a 4-3-3 because he doesn’t have the pace to get in behind. Maybe we could go 3 at the back? Allison Gomez Matip Virgil Trent Fabinho Hendo Robertson Shaq Mane Origi Try to win the game with the wingbacks.
I remember Mourinho fielding a weakened team in the match previous to that semi-final at Anfield since Chelsea had already clinched the league. As I said, Liverpool will probably will this one but not scoring away goals will make going through doubly difficult. Still, Anfield will be up for this one.
Possibly, but its a bit of risk to expect to get 90 out of him. Ultimately the selection depends on the result tonight. If City drop points, then I'm tempted to hold something back for the weekend. How about a mad Brewster start?
Strange to think this season has 2, maximum of three, games left. For a while there, we were all Robert Earl Keen, "The Road Goes On Forever, The Party Never Ends". This game against Barca is going to test Liverpool severely and all indications are that we will come up short. 3-0 down from the first leg, the lack of an away goal is looming larger and larger. So is the first priority to stop Barca getting one? Which would mean we'd need 5. If we manage to stop Barca, we still have to score 3 just to get to extra time. (As a sidebar, I've always thought that away goals should not count as double if scored in extra time. Liverpool had 90 minutes in Spain, Barcelona should have the same in England; extra time should be away goal neutral. But anyway...). We are without Firmino, Salah and Keita, three players who make just about most sides in the world, so let's not kid ourselves that our bench is deep enough. It's not, no one's would be, to withstand the loss of those three. Let's start with the defense. VVD, Matip and Robertson to start. The RB position is between Gomez and TAA. I completely understand Gomez in the first leg. With the exception of Man City in the first leg last season, TAA has too often looked vulnerable in big games. He handled Sane very well in that game, but too often he has struggled. A lot of this is down to having Salah rather than Firmino or Mane in front of him. Nevertheless, defensively, Gomez is the better option. But Gomez does not have the same elan and attacking verve that TAA has. You don't rack up 11 or 12 assists by accident. In many respects this choice will define the team's entire focus and approach. If Gomez, then it's a counter attacking game, keeping home safe; if TAA, it's heavy-metal, high-pressing, looking to overwhelm them early and often. Again, if TAA and we do manage to claw back 2 or 3, I could see Gomez replacing him late on. Midfield is a starker choice with Keita out. Fabinho, Wijnaldum and Henderson. With Milner lurking on the bench, probably going to see some minutes. Up front is where things should be interesting. Mane starts. Now who alongside him? Sturridge and Origi? I think not, not Sturridge anyway. I think the forgotten man, Shaqiri, sees a start here with Origi. As to how this game will end? Well I read somewhere that some statistician had worked out a 6% chance of success for Liverpool. And this was before Firmino and Salah were ruled out. So if the same person were to recalculate, I'd imagine we'd be down to about 1-2%. But football's not played on Excel sheets. Last season in the QFs, Barcelona hammered Roma 4-1 at the Camp Nou, setting up a mouthwatering SF with Liverpool. Except Roma destroyed Barca 3-0 in Rome, to put a stop to those plans. Essentially this is the same Barca team, so there is that. They fielded a B side in La Liga at the weekend (and lost) unlike us who have to be buoyed by the win and the manner of it against Newcastle. So there is that, too. Barca played almost the perfect game in the Camp Nou in the first leg, so you'd have to wonder if lightening strikes twice? So there's that, also. Putting everything together, I do see a chance for Liverpool, especially if they score early and go into the break not having conceded. I don't see them scoring 4 (removing the 90 minutes option) and I don't see them scoring 5 (overcoming Barca scoring), so that leaves score 3 over 120 minutes, concede none and go to penalties. Stranger things have happened; but my head says Barca to advance.
I think it was noted here somewhere - we had a similar game against Cheslki when Rafa was coaching...No torres and no gerrard in the second leg at Stamford bridge? we did well with a pretty ok team - I think we have more talent now and I can see us giving it a real go. I am hoping for 2 things - 1) Liverpool play to their potential at Anfield and feed off the crowd noise and slightly shorter pitch to press these dbags senseless and 2) Barcelona are a bit complacent after the first leg.
... and converting chances that come our way— as Kloppo said “... you’re not going to have 500 chances... “ In Barcelona, we could quite easily have scored 2 goals.
ah crap .... I realize the Mail is basically a shit-disturber but ..... Virgil van Dijk and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain missed Liverpool training on the eve of their Champions League clash with Barcelona. Jurgen Klopp's men are looking to overturn a 3-0 deficit against Barcelona in the second-leg of the semi-final at Anfield but the club will be without a number of key names, including Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino. And there are injury concerns over Van Dijk and Chamberlain, who trained on their own at Melwood on Monday afternoon away from the rest of the squad. There are no specific reasons why the Liverpool duo missed training but both still may be available to face the Catalan giants. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...Oxlade-Chamberlain-ahead-Barcelona-clash.html
It doesn't look like they're wrong. But Milan had it Won with 3 goals and 45 minutes to play. No sweat, right. ‘One goal at Anfield:’ Spanish press reveal Barcelona tactics as La Liga giants look to score early against Liverpool and reach Champions League final ‘without suffering’ Barcelona are preparing to visit Anfield on Tuesday with the hope of booking their place in the Champions League final, and reports in Spain claim the La Liga giants have a specific approach in mind. Full Story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...iants-look-score-early-against-Liverpool.html
no idea myself, but wikipedia says ... There is also the issue that if extra time is played in the second leg, the away team gets an extra 30 minutes to take advantage of the away goals rule.
Can I respectfully request that you dream about 5 Liverpool goals rather than silly administrative stuff? But the rules say away goals count as double when they’re scored, um, away from home. Injury time, extra time, real time. All the same.
Guess I'm thinking of MLS or CONCACAF Champions League. And trust me, I do. Keep dreaming of Citeh stepping on their dick but they just won't do it.
Yeah, Leicester was my not so secret hope. Now to spend the next 6 days persuading myself that Brighton really are *that* good.