Liverpool vs Barcelona at International Champions Cup 2016: Luis Suarez to Face His Former Team, 4 Reds Out Due to Injuries; Kickoff, Venue and TV Info
Jurgen Klopp's Reds is indeed out for bad blood in a penultimate battle against La Liga champion Barcelona who will feature Luis Suarez, a former Liverpool star.
Liverpool's next pre-season challenge will kick-off at 5:15 p.m. this Saturday at Wembley Stadium. The match is expected to gather 80,000 in live attendance. The match will be shown on Sky Sports 1 and LFCTV.
Suarez dilemma
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Apart from the Suarez dilemma, Liverpool is also coming in without four players namely: Loris Karius, Mamadou Sakho, Joe Gomez and Lucas Leiva due to injuries. Alberto Moreno is also feared to miss the game after going home limping after a match with Roma although James Milner is more likely to cover for him.
Meanwhile, Barcelona has all the aces to go with a runaway win because of Suarez. Ironically, another former Liverpool Javier Mascherano is out to challenge the Reds as well. Suarez's departure from the club has resulted to sadness among Liverpool fans and so is Mascherano's since the two left not for reasons of poor play.
Previous matches
Liverpool and Barcelona have met six times before and it is noteworthy to recall that these games resulted to two wins apiece and two draws. First is during the EUFA cup in 2001 where the match ended in a draw, thus beginning the long-time rivalry.
The two Titans faced again the following week in April 2001 when Liverpool won with a 1-0 during the UEFA Cup after an agonizing finale. Barcelona later avenged defeat in the Champions League in November 2001 by dismantling Liverpool in a 1-3 final result.
Then, the following year starts again in a draw during the Champions League where Liverpool returned to the Nou Camp and claimed another hard-earned goalless draw. Barcelona's best chances came when Philippe Christanval hit the post and Luis Enrique missed from a Javier Saviola cross, but Liverpool held on.
Champions League
Another break for Liverpool came in 2007 when they dispatched Barcelona via 1-2 in the Champions League. The said evening match started poorly for Rafael Benitez's side when Deco headed the opener for Lionel Messi but the team held on and exploited every available opening to run away as winners.
The most recent of the rivalry matches was March 6, 2007 and Liverpool ended 0 goal and Barcelona slotted 1 during the Champions League. Liverpool was then secured in their passage to the quarter-finals due to ticking time and near match end but they lost it after Eidur Gudjohnsen scored for Barcelona in the 75th minute.
