Joel Matip has revealed that he spent time with Lionel Messi in a drug-testing room after Liverpool's famous Champions League triumph over Barcelona last season.
Despite trailing 3-0 after the first leg at Camp Nou, Liverpool stormed back to prevail 4-0 at Anfield, earning the club a spot in the final against Tottenham Hotspur.
After the game, Matip was chosen to undergoing a doping test, and the Cameroon international has acknowledged that he was joined by a distraught Messi.
Speaking to 11Freunde, Matip said: "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."
Liverpool's defence of the trophy recently came to an end with defeat to Atletico Madrid at the last-16 stage.
Darren Plant
