After Liverpool drew Barcelona in the Champions League, all eyes turned to the Reds' defense and how they plan on stopping Lionel Messi. The Argentine is the deadliest player at Camp Nou and is the greatest of all time in the eyes of many, leaving Klopp's back-four with a hefty task.
Mourinho, a man who crossed paths with Leo on several occasions from his days with Inter Milan and Real Madrid, advised the Merseyside giant to create a cage around La Pulga. However, Andrew Robertson has warned against defending in numbers against the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.
The Scottish full-back, who has been excellent this season for the Anfield side, insists that it will be difficult to keep track of Messi. The Blaugrana icon is known for drifting around the pitch, which will make things hard for him and his fellow defenders.
The 25-year-old does admit that defending in packs is the likeliest way to stop the 31-year-old. However, Robertson argues that in doing this, this could leave the likes of Suarez and Coutinho unmarked with opportunities to punish Liverpool.
"I don’t think you have to prepare any differently from any other game," the Premier League ace told UEFA.
"Of course, you’re playing against a better player than you usually would... he’s the best player in the world. You can maybe watch clips, although I don’t know if that would help, mind you!
“But I think we all need to be prepared because he drifts all over the pitch.
"You watch him, and sometimes he’s back in the center-half spot, picking up the ball from deep and things like that, so he’ll start on the right but I’m prepared for him not to stay out there. But I know he’ll be running at us at times, and it’s all about how we defend it.
“We need to defend in packs, but the problem is that it’s not just him.
"If you keep him quiet, then you’ve got [Philippe] Coutinho, who we all know well, you’ve got [Luis] Suarez and people like that who can cause you problems, so it’s not about keeping one man quiet, it’s about keeping the whole team quiet, and that’ll be the hardest thing for us.”
None can refute this statement by Robertson. Messi is known for drawing in defenders with his majestic dribbling skills only to unleash an exquisite pass to an unmarked team-mate to score. Van Dijk and Co. will not want this to happen if they wish to improve on last season's Champions League campaign.
It remains unknown whether Liverpool's back-four can stop Leo and Co. What is certain, though, is that fans are in for an exciting showdown, with a ticket to the final at stake.
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