Clement Lenglet is prepared to put his body and teeth on the line for the good of the Barcelona cause in an ongoing bid for a possible treble.
The French defender was among those who helped Ernesto Valverde’s side take another step towards hitting that target against Liverpool on Wednesday.
A 3-0 victory in the first leg of a Champions League semi-final has the Catalan giants daring to dream of European glory.
They have already been crowned La Liga champions and are through to the final of the Copa del Rey.
Lenglet is setting his sights on more major silverware, with the 23-year-old having taken a few knocks against Liverpool to keep Barcelona on course.
He told RMC Sport after a notable victory over the Reds at Camp Nou: “I lost a little bit of a tooth but it’s not serious.
“But I’m happy to lose bits of teeth again on a regular basis!”
Lenglet did struggle to get to grips with the challenge posed by Mohamed Salah early on in a heavyweight continental clash, with a yellow card picked up shortly before half-time.
He was, however, happy with his performance as a whole, adding: “I had a difficult first 20 minutes.
“During that period of the game, I needed to adapt to the distance I needed to stand off [Salah].
“You can’t let the ball be played deep but [you have to] be quite close to step in as well. It was a little easier after that [first 20 minutes], even if these games are always difficult.
“I found it a little easier to position myself and analyse how close I needed to be to keep his back to goal as often as possible and – when he did turn – be able to play for time and get help from my teammates.”
Barcelona are due at Anfield on Tuesday for the return date of a meeting with Liverpool, with their sights being set on a final outing at Atletico Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano home on June 1.
Arturo Vidal has added on that quest: “I would give everything to win the Champions League.
“I will give my life in the return leg and I hope to play in the final.”
Chile international Vidal has graced a final once before but came unstuck against Barcelona while on the books at Juventus in 2015.
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