{"id":1090546,"date":"2019-05-25T13:23:20","date_gmt":"2019-05-25T12:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1090546"},"modified":"2019-05-25T13:23:20","modified_gmt":"2019-05-25T12:23:20","slug":"lionel-messi-liverpool-golden-boot","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/lionel-messi-liverpool-golden-boot\/","title":{"rendered":"Lionel Messi: Liverpool are in my head… not the Golden Boot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lionel Messi admits he’s still thinking about Liverpool despite being on the verge of winning another European Golden Boot.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Barcelona suffered a painful 4-0 defeat at the hands of Jurgen Klopp’s men at Anfield which denied them a first Champions League final since 2015.<\/p>\n

Remontada d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu: Five things to know…<\/h2>\n
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  1. Barcelona defeated Liverpool 3-0 in their Champions League semi-final first leg at the Camp Nou.<\/li>\n
  2. Liverpool returned the favour with a 4-0 victory at Anfield which means they’re now contesting back-to-back Champions League finals.<\/li>\n
  3. Last season Barcelona visited AS Roma in their quarter-final second leg meeting with a 4-1 lead, but would be eliminated after losing 3-0.<\/li>\n
  4. In both second legs, away from home to Roma and Liverpool, Messi failed to register a goal.<\/li>\n
  5. He was speaking in his first Bar\u00e7a press conference in four years.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    https:\/\/audioboom.com\/posts\/7266091-the-season-defining-story-from-each-of-europe-s-top-five-leagues<\/p>\n

    Embarrassment for the Catalan giants came from the fact they squandered a three-goal lead to Liverpool following the semi-final first leg. Even more damning was that they blew a similar advantage last season in the quarter-finals against AS Roma.<\/p>\n

    The shock result was met with a mixture of schadenfreude and fury. Ernesto Valverde, who has presided over both eliminations remains in charge, but since then Bar\u00e7a have won just one of their two matches.<\/p>\n

    Messi would register a brace in the recent 2-2 draw at Eibar which moved him to 36 league goals for the season, putting him three clear of nearest rival Kylian Mbapp\u00e9, but winning the accolade for the sixth time \u2013 and third season on the bounce \u2013 isn’t on Bar\u00e7a’s number 10’s mind.<\/p>\n