Lionel Messi's post-match interview

Lionel Messi who scored Barcelona's second goal after a very timely rebound, closed the game down with a free-kick that he himself described as "spectacular". "I looked for it and I was very lucky that it ended up going in there," he explained.

As for the match, he had no trouble recognising that Liverpool made it quite difficult and that Barcelona suffered at times: "They got into their game, they played what they're used to. We played against each other, which is something we don't usually do. A lot of rhythm and very physical against one another. We are not used to it and it cost us a little... We were suffocating a little bit".

"The most important thing is that they didn't score any goals against us. We were better in the first half and they had a lot of chances in the second half. We knew they were going to find the goal, but we were able to contain them and we were able to score two more," he added.

"We are in a very beautiful moment and we all have to be more united than ever. I said at the beginning of the year that we would achieve this together and now is not the time to criticise anyone. It's ugly to see a colleague like that being whistled at. I won't talk about whether it was right or wrong, but we must all be united and move forward", insisted Messi in reference to the jeers towards Philippe Coutinho.

Finally, he lamented Dembele's failure to capitalise on the last chance of the match and said that the tie is not closed: "The last chance was a clear one and it would have been better to score, but the result is very good. It's not finished yet, as we're going to a stadium with a lot of history, but we're proud of tonight's game".