NEWS DESK
\nBARCELONA
\nJurgen Klopp has insisted Liverpool are ready to end Lionel Messi\u2019s Champions League mission by beating Barcelona in the semi-finals.
\nMessi has been rested for Barca\u2019s last two league games and appears more motivated than ever in Europe, after pledging to \u201cbring that beautiful cup back to Camp Nou\u201d at the start of the season.
\nBut Klopp has warned his players not to focus only on the Argentinian.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not only about Messi but of course it\u2019s about him as well,\u201d Klopp said at a press conference on Tuesday.
\n\u201cCan we concentrate on Messi? We should in a lot of moments but if we only concentrate on him there are 10 other world-class players who can decide the game as well.
\n\u201cMessi said before the season, \u2018we want to bring back that cup\u2019. That sounds like a threat to me. Now we did it, now we are here and all I can say is we want to go to the final as well.\u201d
\nBarcelona play Liverpool four days after celebrating winning La Liga on Saturday, and with a Copa del Rey final to come next month against Valencia. It means a treble is in their sights.
\n\u201cLeo has been a La Liga champion 10 times in 15 years and of course, after seeing him lift the cup (on Saturday) with such happiness, that motivates everyone,\u201d said Ivan Rakitic.
\n\u201cIf Leo is happy to win every title, it makes us even more eager too. We know we\u2019re Barca, we have to give everything and following the best player in history gives us more confidence to do that.\u201d
\nLiverpool hope to have their own striker back in time for the first leg, after Roberto Firmino trained after recovering from a muscle strain.
\n\u201cIf he is 100 per cent ready to play he will maybe play,\u201d Klopp said. \u201cHe is here. Tomorrow we have another session.\u201d
\nMessi is likely to be flanked by two former Liverpool players, with Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho expected to start in an attacking three.
\nBut while Suarez has flourished in Spain, Coutinho has struggled to find his feet since joining Barca for 120 million euros in January last year.
\n\u201cWe miss Phil Coutinho a lot because he is a world-class player and I loved working with him,\u201d Klopp said. \u201cWhen I first heard he wanted to go to Barcelona I couldn\u2019t imagine it would be good. But we had to deal without him and we did well.\u201d
\nBarcelona have not lost at home in the Champions League since 2013 while the last English opponent to beat them on their own turf was Liverpool in 2007<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEWS DESK BARCELONA Jurgen Klopp has insisted Liverpool are ready to end Lionel Messi\u2019s Champions League mission by beating Barcelona in the semi-finals. Messi has been rested for Barca\u2019s last two league games and appears more motivated than ever in Europe, after pledging to \u201cbring that beautiful cup back to Camp Nou\u201d at the start […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62109,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n