Lionel Messi left behind as Barcelona team bus leaves for airport | Photo Credit: AP

Spanish giants Barcelona endured a forgettable evening in England as Liverpool hammered four goals past them in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final on Tuesday to complete a historic turnaround. The aggregate score of 4-3 enabled Jurgen Klopp's men to enter the third consecutive European final (two Champíons League and one Europa League) but amid the celebrations at Anfield, the Barcelona team bus reportedly departed for the airport without Messi.

According to Spanish TV channel El Chiringuito, the Barcelona bus departed from Anfield for the airport while Messi was waiting to provide testers with a sample at the stadium. After what can be categorised as an embarrassing defeat for a team which was looking set to complete a treble this season, the mood among the players can be understood considering they even forgot to pick their captain on the way back home.

Messi was confident of his side's progression into the final after a 3-0 win at Camp Nou in the first leg but the Argentine refused to speak to media after the defeat on Tuesday.

La cara de Leo Messi al pasar por la zona mixta de Anfield. @ellarguero pic.twitter.com/NVrz8DG8Zm — Adrià Albets (@AdriaAlbets) 7 May 2019

Messi's strike partner Luis Suarez, meanwhile, slammed his club teammates following the defeat calling Barcelona's defenders 'schoolboys'.

"We are very sad, very hurt," Suarez told media after the match. "It's time to do a lot of self-criticism in our team, it is the second time that this has happened. We cannot commit the same mistake two years in a row, we have to think about many things and must be ourselves, tell us things in the face, things that we've done wrong. It's not possible that in one minute we concede two goals. Their fourth goal? We looked like a youth team there. The coach does not have to be reproached, we are the ones who have to ask for forgiveness."

Even last year, the Catalans had witnessed something similar as they saw AS Roma overturn a 4-1 first-leg deficit with a 3-0 win back home. To witness that for the second time in a row saw the heart of every Barcelona fan shatter.



