LONDON • It is arguably the worst European defeat in Barcelona's history and coach Ernesto Valverde is unlikely to survive what Catalan newspaper Sport headlined "The biggest farce in history" on its all-black front page.
All season, the three-goal capitulation to Serie A side Roma in the Champions League quarter-final last term hung like a dark pall.
Tuesday night was supposed to have been the opportunity to exorcise those ghosts from Italy.
Again they held a three-goal lead from the first leg at the Nou Camp. And again they imploded, this time more spectacularly, 4-0, for their heaviest defeat against an English side in all European competitions.
While the inquest into their latest European failure at Liverpool will be swift and far reaching, Valverde, who signed a new contract in February, albeit only until 2020, appears set to pay the price despite his domestic successes.
The Spanish champions are favourites to lift a second straight double with the King's Cup final against Valencia to come on May 25 but the fans have never particularly taken to his pragmatic tactics, deeming them to be a "betrayal (of) the Blaugrana DNA based on possession and control of the game".
The Roma thrashing had been a stick to beat him with, but after their collapse at Anfield, the Spanish media believe he no longer has a leg to stand on. The headlines screamed for his head yesterday as Barcelona's wait for a first Champions League final since 2015 goes on.
Sport called it "the darkest page in their history", saying: "Without doubt, Valverde holds a lot of responsibility for this disaster, because when the moment of truth arrived, he made the same mistakes as last year.
"The Champions League is too big for Valverde."
Marca, which is pro-Real Madrid, labelled the hammering as "a historic failure", while L'Esportiu declared that "the consensus is clear and is expected to bring consequences for everyone".
17
Number of times Lionel Messi was dispossessed.8
All Barcelona's shots came through Messi, who attempted five strikes and created three.
Valverde, 55, admitted in the aftermath that "the coach has to take responsibility". He added: "I do not know how it's going to affect me. It's very painful for us, especially for our people, it's the second year they've come back like that."
Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu accepted questions would be asked of Valverde's future following the "disastrous night", alluding to "time to reflect and explain".
The players were not spared either. Like Marca, Sport gave no player more than three marks out of 10, while Ivan Rakitic and Philippe Coutinho were both rated zero by the latter.
Former Liverpool favourite Luis Suarez, who was mercilessly booed by the home fans, conceded they had no place to hide and "have to be ready for all the criticism that is going to rain down on us now".
The forward, who spent three years with the Reds from 2011 to 2014, said: "For their fourth goal, we looked like schoolboys... We are very sad. We have to do a lot of self-criticism because this is the second time that the same thing has happened to us."
Teammate Sergio Busquets, who appeared tearful, could only apologise to the travelling fans, saying: "I just want to say sorry. We didn't want this to happen again... It's hard to say anything else."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
And according to Spanish news outlet Don Balon, who often make bold claims, Messi has told Valverde to alter his starting line-up. They sensationally say the Argentina talisman wants Valverde to drop Gomes for tomorrow night's clash at the Nou Camp. Gomes, 24, has struggled to impress at the Nou Camp following his move to Barca in 2016.
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