Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona: 5 Talking Points

#3 Jordi Alba's defensive weaknesses exposed

Alba was at fault for two Liverpool goals and thoroughly exposed defensively against the fearless hosts

Jordi Alba was exposed. Not for the first time either: this had shades of the Juventus defeat two seasons ago, where they were constantly getting joy down his side and he could seemingly do nothing to isolate them nor reduce their success, leaving him for dead where possible, highlighting him as Barca's weak link.

The same was the case here. In the first leg, he played an excellent ball into Suarez for their opener, but ultimately he was the chief culprit as they relinquished another excellent aggregate lead. Not confident with his one-on-one defending, his positioning was poor and he made two individual mistakes which gifted them two goals.

The first was a header he inexcusably headed back towards his own goal with Mane lurking behind him, the second another mistake in possession. You cannot afford to give the ball away in your own half and within a few seconds, Wijnaldum was wheeling away as Anfield roared once more.

With three interceptions, four clearances, one foul and two mistakes leading to goals, it just wasn't good enough. At 30, he's not getting any better. His shield from criticism is that going forward, he's such a creative force in the final third. However, he didn't create many chances on this occasion. The one he did, he panicked and picked the wrong option, passing back to Messi rather than shooting with four players in the Liverpool box.

When it matters most and you need to defend properly, where was he for that? Nelson Semedo did well in the first leg when called upon, yet didn't feature until it was too late and the damage had already been done.

This insistence on using players given their high-standing reputation doesn't always prove beneficial and yet again, Alba has been caught out in one of the biggest games of Barcelona's season. They'd just recovered from the demise in Rome too.