Wednesday won’t be one of those days, as Barcelona faces Liverpool in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals. “We wanted to clinch the Spanish league title, but at the same time we also wanted to make sure he was prepared for this tie. He scored the decisive goal — yet another one — that allowed the team to clinch its eighth league title in 11 seasons. “Messi is the centerpiece of our success,” Valverde said after Barcelona won the league. That was the case last weekend in a match against Levante, which Barcelona needed to win to secure the league title.

Source: National Post April 30, 2019 13:41 UTC