BARCELONA, Spain — Jürgen Klopp had asked his Liverpool players to be brave. For the plan to work — for the plan to have any hope of working — they had to have courage, he told them. The courage to attack Barcelona, to make their illustrious opponent run. He had Barcelona’s last few games pored over, analyzed, picked apart for any sign of weakness, any glimmer of hope. Together with his coaching staff, he formulated a plan for Wednesday’s first leg of Liverpool’s Champions League semifinal.

Source: New York Times May 01, 2019 23:15 UTC