‘Wake up call for Mr Messi!’: Fireworks set off by Liverpool fans explode outside Barcelona’s team hotel in the early hours of the morning ahead of Champions League semi-final
- Liverpool fans set off a series of fireworks outside Barcelona’s team hotel
- The Catalans are staying at the Hilton hotel ahead of their semi-final second leg
- A supporter can be heard describing the racket as a ‘wake up call for Mr Messi’
- Liverpool face a tough task to overturn a 3-0 deficit on Tuesday night at Anfield
Liverpool supporters set off fireworks outside Barcelona’s team hotel ahead of their Champions League semi-final clash on Tuesday night.
The Reds face a mammoth task to overturn a 3-0 deficit after suffering a heavy defeat in the Nou Camp last week, but it appears fans have taken matters into their own hands to help find any possible advantage.
A video has emerged on social media of fans setting off fireworks opposite the Hilton hotel in Liverpool city centre last night.
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Liverpool fans tried to give Barcelona an uncomfortable night’s sleep by setting off fireworks
They were set off outside the Hilton hotel in Liverpool city centre during Monday night
The fireworks were set off outside the building and one fan can be heard describing the noise as ‘a wake up call for Mr Messi’.
Barcelona are staying at the four-star Hilton hotel in Liverpool city centre, which sits directly opposite Albert Dock on the river Mersey.
They have brought with them a huge travelling entourage of 160 people, all of whom are unlikely to have had a comfortable night’s sleep.
Reds fans are not the only semi-finalists adopt underhand tactics to gain an advantage in the Champions League this season; Ajax fans have set off pyrotechnics outside their opponents’ hotels in both the round of 16 and the quarter finals in Amsterdam.
Those stunts appeared to pay off as the Dutch high-flyers went on to knock out heavyweights Real Madrid and Juventus to reach the last four.
Liverpool will need a miracle on a par with their win over AC Milan in the 2005 Istanbul final if they hope to progress to this year’s showpiece event in Madrid.
Barcelona lead the tie on aggregate following a 3-0 win over Liverpool at the Nou Camp
Mohamed Salah will miss the second leg after sustaining concussion against Newcastle
Despite enjoying much of the play in Spain, they were undone by the magic of Messi, who struck twice – the first a rebound and the second a truly stunning 30-yard free-kick.
Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and James Milner all missed guilt-edged opportunities as the Reds failed to find a crucial away goal.
Their mountainous challenge at Anfield will only be heightened by the absence of both Salah and Roberto Firmino, who are both sidelined for the fixture.
‘It is a concussion and that means he (Salah) will not even be allowed to play,’ said Klopp. ‘He feels OK but that is not good enough from a medical point of view. He is desperate, but we cannot do it.
Jurgen Klopp will be hoping that hi s side can pull off a football miracle to reach the final
‘The situation is with the 3-0 in Barcelona it is obviously not the situation we want to have.
‘You cannot play against Barcelona and tell the world “watch this” and after 10 minutes we are level.
‘We try to win the game. If there is an opportunity to go to the next round, we have to try in. Until then we just have to try and win the game, that’s how we will do it.’
