Joel Matip has recalled seeing a "depressed" Lionel Messi in the doping test room after Liverpool's 4-0 victory over Barcelona last season.
Jurgen Klopp's side overturned a 3-0 first-leg deficit with a stunning triumph at Anfield to progress to the Champions League final, which they won against Tottenham.
Matip played the full 90 minutes of the second leg against Barcelona, which he has described as one of the "most beautiful" moments of his career to date.
“After the game, we lined up arm-in-arm in front of the Kop together and sang ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ with the fans,” the central defender told 11Freunde.
“That was one of the most beautiful moments of my career, maybe on the same level as my debut for Schalke in Munich.
“I didn’t care about anything; I was floating on air after singing with the fans.
“And when I came into the doping test room, there was a guy sitting there pretty depressed – Lionel Messi.
“You know each other from the pitch, but it’s not like you sit around with them every day in a small room like you’re getting coffee. Everyone is celebrating, and I’m sitting in a cubicle with Messi.”
Since winning the Champions League last season, Klopp has led Liverpool to the brink of the Premier League title this term.
The Reds are 25 points clear at the top of the table, although the season is currently on hold due to the coronavirus crisis.
And Matip, a Cameroon international who was born in Germany, says he often has to explain Klopp's sense of humour to his team-mates.
“Sometimes I’m the only one in the dressing room who understands his jokes straight away,” he added. “I sit on the side and watch the others thinking about it.
“When the coach says things like ‘that was not the yellow from the egg,’ which means ‘that wasn’t exactly brilliant,’ only the assistant coach and I burst out laughing.
“Then I have to explain what the sentences mean to the others.”
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