Barcelona 0-4 Liverpool: Sadio Mane scores first Reds goal

By Richard Morgan at Wembley

Sunday 7 August 2016 08:26, UK

Sadio Mane scored his first Liverpool goal as Jurgen Klopp's side beat Barcelona 4-0 at Wembley Stadium in their final International Champions Cup match on Saturday.

The Senegal winger opened the scoring after just a quarter of an hour in front of 89,845 fans, the second-largest attendance at the new Wembley, against a Barcelona team with both Luis Suarez - against his old team - and Lionel Messi up front.

However, the match was over as a contest when the Reds scored twice early in the second period via a Javier Mascherano own goal and a fine finish by substitute Divock Origi, before Marko Grujic's late strike rounded off the scoring.

Klopp suffered a blow before kick-off with the news that striker Daniel Sturridge was out with a minor hip injury that must now threaten his participation in their Premier League opener against Arsenal at the Emirates a week on Sunday.

The German, meanwhile, also opted to field midfielder James Milner as a makeshift left back, despite the fact first-choice Alberto Moreno was on the substitutes' bench after recovering from a recent hamstring problem.

That experiment, though, only lasted 42 minutes before the Reds' skipper was forced off with a heel injury that must also make his involvement against the Gunners next weekend in doubt.

However, in baking conditions at the home of football, it was Liverpool who made the better start of the two, with recent new £25m signing from Newcastle United, Georginio Wijnaldum, going close to opening the scoring after just a minute.

However, the Netherlands international's goalbound effort from just inside the penalty area was deflected behind, although it was not long before the Reds broke the deadlock.

The threat again came down their right wing as Roberto Firmino and Adam Lallana played a neat exchange of passes, before the latter cleverly slid Mane through on goal, with the winger making no mistake with an excellent close-range finish high into the net past a helpless Marc-Andre ter Stegen in Barca's goal.

That strike appeared to stir the La Liga champions into life and they were unfortunate not to draw level midway through the first period as Luis Suarez's delicious through-ball found Messi free in the area.

But from a tight angle towards the left-hand edge of the box, the Argentine playmaker beat Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, only for his low effort to rebound to safety off the Belgian's far post.

There were further escapes for Liverpool in the remainder of the first half, none more so than when Mignolet was called upon to make a smart reaction save to keep out Arda Turan's deflected effort from the edge of the area, although the midfielder really should have buried the rebound from eight yards out.

Meanwhile, Luis Suarez also spurned a great chance to score against his former club after being found by El Haddadi Munir's clever lofted ball over the top, only for Mignolet to come out and deny the Uruguay attacker with an excellent close-range block.

Liverpool made a raft of changes at the interval, with the likes of Jordan Henderson, Origi and Kevin Stewart all being introduced, and with immediate effect too as they increased their lead just two minutes into the second period.

Mane won back possession back from the dithering Jeremy Mathieu, before Origi's neat back heel sent him clear to the right-hand the byline and his teasing cross was then bundled in at the near post by a combination of Henderson and Mascherano, against his old club.

Just seconds later it was 3-0 as another second-half substitute, Stewart, did brilliantly to win the ball back in the centre of the park, before feeding the pacy Origi with an inch-perfect through ball, and the forward made no mistake with an excellent finish past Claudio Bravo, now on for Ter Stegen.

Thereafter the game petered out as both managers rung the changes yet again, although it was the Premier League side who continued to threaten the most, with Mane inches away from curling in his second after 71 minutes.

However, Liverpool did manage to put the icing on the cake in second-half injury time after a lovely team goal, with substitute Grujic somehow looping a long-range header over Bravo after being set up by Lazar Markovic's delicious lofted pass over Barca's back line.