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There can be no doubt that Liverpool deserve to be in the final. They’ve scored so many goals, they’ve seen off Manchester City and they’ve outdone the team that put out Barcelona. Mind you, Roma will argue they should have had two penalties in the second half tonight and it will concern Jurgen Klopp that Liverpool ended up conceding four goals against a team they outplayed for much of the tie. That will be a big worry before they face Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo, who will surely have taken note of some of the defending here. But Madrid will have concerns of their own, chiefly that red swarm of an attack, with Sadio Mane flying, Roberto Firmino scheming and Mohamed Salah inspiring. If nothing else it should be a fabulous, free-scoring final. But that’s all from me tonight. I’ll leave you with Daniel Taylor’s on-the-whistle match report. Enjoy!
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Liverpool’s players pose with a banner bearing Sean Cox’s name. Class gesture from a class team. #LFC pic.twitter.com/ASKY0KVuD2
— Sachin Nakrani (@SachinNakrani) May 2, 2018
“Boring” James Milner is asked if he’ll have a glass of red wine tonight. “Maybe for a few of the boys. You know me, maybe I’ll stretch myself to a glass of ribena or something.”
James Milner speaks! “I don’t know what to say. We know how to make it interesting, don’t we? Brilliant football first half. Second half they put pressure on us, they’re a fantastic team. We need to do better. The penalty was a bit harsh and the first goal was a bit ridiculous. You can do that 1000 times and it’s not going to happen again. But to get to a Champions League final, nobody said that was easy and we’ve beaten some good teams. It was all about getting the job done and we’ve done that, no matter how difficult we made it.”
Steven Gerrard speaks! “I don’t really remember much about the final I lost but I do remember Istanbul changed my life. When you deliver the Champions League trophy for your club it’s a life-changing experience and these lads can do it.”
Andy Robertson says a few more words. “You look back at what I was doing last season, fighting for our lives at Hull. Unfortunately we fell short. We’ll enjoy Kiev. It’s all leading up to that game. We’ll go in as underdogs but sometimes that can be a good thing.”
“Oh Andy, Andy! Andy, Andy, Andy, Andy Robertson!” chant the Liverpool fans. Admit it, you never thought Andy Robertson would be in a Champions League final. But here he is. “What a thing to be involved in,” the left-back says. “The lads and our fans deserve it. We’ll have a great day in Kiev regardless of the result. It’s hard when you come and defend a lead. You need to remember you’re defending that lead to make that final.”
“Madrid in the final, it won’t be easy, a fantastic team,” Jordan Henderson says. “But we’ll go there with confidence and give it everything.”
Gini Wijnaldum, who scored his first away goal for Liverpool, explains that he was standing unmarked and headed the ball past the goalkeeper. More when we have it.
Jordan Henderson speaks! “We never do it the easy way unfortunately. Amazing effort. We knew it would be tough. We did well, scored some good goals. Overall I thought we handled the situation well apart from maybe the last 10 minutes of the second half, conceding two goals. We need to stop that.”
Appreciative applause greets the final whistle, the Roma fans recognising the effort from their side. It was too little, too late from Roma, who have paid for shocking defending across both legs in the end. Down 5-2 after being battered at Anfield, they made it too difficult for themselves and Liverpool, despite losing on the night, are through to the final. It’s not like the visiting fans care about their team’s dodgy defending. They’re in their first Champions League final since 2007! The Liverpool players are celebrating in front of their fans. Jurgen Klopp is on the pitch, beaming as he embraces the injured Adam Lallana. The German has taken this proud club back to the European football’s top table.
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Full-time: Roma 4-2 Liverpool (Liverpool win 7-6 on aggregate)!
Liverpool will play Real Madrid in the European Cup final on 26 May!
GOAL! Roma 4-2 Liverpool (Nainggolan pen, 90 min+4; 6-7 agg)
Nainggolan smashes it down the middle! But there’s surely no time for another.
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PENALTY TO ROMA!
90 min+3: A long ball into the area. Under tries to get round Klavan. It hits Klavan on the arm and a penalty’s awarded! Harsh!
90 min+2: Nathaniel Clyne replaces Trent Alexander-Arnold, eating up more time. Ring of Fire is blaring out from the away end.
90 min+1: Solanke has been booked. There will only be three added minutes. I challenge Liverpool to concede again.
90 min: Fazio’s offside from Florenzi’s free-kick. Why?
89 min: Milner fouls Schick on the right. Roma will load the box.
87 min: Dominic Solanke replaces Roberto Firmino.
GOAL! Roma 3-2 Liverpool (Nainggolan, 86 min; 5-7 agg)
Nainggolan lets a pass from Kolarov run across his body and then he makes sweet contact with the ball, drilling a low shot into the bottom-right corner from 20 yards! Roma need two more goals! Is it still on?
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84 min: Robertson fouls Florenzi, prompting Manolas to charge across to confront the left-back. Manolas is booked and takes a while to cool down.
83 min: Ragnar Klavan replaces the excellent Sadio Mane. Liverpool will switch to three at the back to see themselves over the line.
80 min: Dzeko is so persistent. He breaks through on the left and, from an angle, screws a low shot towards the far corner. Karius fumbles his save and he’s relieved to see Lovren hack the ball clear a few yards from the line. Liverpool have not defended well in the second half. Cristiano Ronaldo must be looking forward to playing them.
79 min: Dzeko sends a snapshot just wide. It’s not happening for Roma. The Liverpool fans are sounding triumphant.
78 min: “As this match passes the 75-minute mark, that old saying comes to mind,” says Peter Oh. “When in Rome...park the bus!!!”
75 min: Stephan El Shaarawy limps off, Mirko Antonucci replacing him.
71 min: Gonalons blasts over from 20 yards. I suspect Roma are done here. It might have been different if that penalty had been given for the Alexander-Arnold handball, but they probably had to score during that spell.
69 min: Liverpool threaten at last, Salah slipping a pass through to Firmino, whose shot’s saved by the feet of Alisson. Roma make their final change, Maxime Gonalons replacing Daniele De Rossi.
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67 min: Dzeko has another sighter, turning the ball over after a pass from Nainggolan.
66 min: Dzeko seizes on a loose ball and finds Kolarov on the left. Kolarov zips a low cross into the middle and Karius manages to divert it away from the Roma forwards. Liverpool hastily scramble the ball clear, but Roma aren’t done yet. De Rossi chests the ball down and then he lofts it over the top to Dzeko, who’s onside. He takes it in his stride and shoots wide. That was a good chance. Liverpool are making this more stressful than it needs to be.
63 min: Nainggolan trundles down the right and his deflected cross runs to Dzeko. He turns it into the middle and Schick almost bundles it in. The ball runs to El Shaarawy after an almighty scramble and he blasts a volley goalwards from a few yards out, only for Alexander-Arnold to deflect it over. A replay shows that Alexander-Arnold handled it. That should have been a penalty. Roma should have had two since half-time.
61 min: Mane heads wide from close range. He was offside, though.
60 min: This was almost it. De Rossi lifts a lovely ball over the top. Under somehow volleys it goalwards, but Karius plunges down to save and hold the shot.
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59 min: Roma are trying to quicken the pace. You sense they need a third sooner rather than later, though, just to make Liverpool think a bit. Liverpool’s position is still commanding, even though their fans will be panicking again.
56 min: The free-kick’s on the left corner of the Liverpool area. Kolarov lifts it to the far post and Dzeko heads over.
55 min: Liverpool won’t stop attacking. Salah finds Robertson overlapping on the left, but the left-back’s inviting low cross zips all the way across the face of goal. Up the other end, Dzeko’s barged over by Alexander-Arnold on the edge of the area.
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54 min: I think El Shaarawy’s effort was Roma’s first shot on target. Dzeko’s goal was their second.
53 min: Cengiz Under replaces Lorenzo Pellegrini.
GOAL! Roma 2-2 Liverpool (Dzeko, 52 min; 4-7 agg)
A mistake from El Shaarawy to dart down the left, cut inside and aim for the far corner with his right foot. Karius only manages to push the ball straight to Dzeko - he might have done better - and the Bosnian controls well before lifting a shot into the net. It’s not over yet.
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49 min: All of a sudden Dzeko’s through on goal. He skips round Karius, who brings him down. But the flag’s up for offside. He looked onside actually.
47 min: El Shaarawy finds Dzeko in the area. Van Dijk steps in to concede a corner. Schick meets the corner, but Karius claims his header.
46 min: Liverpool, 45 minutes, from the European Cup final get the ball rolling again. “Shout out to Karius who still gets a lot of undue stick but along with Van Dijk has had a big stabilising effect on the defence and never gets much credit for how aggressive and assertive he is at coming out to deal with crosses,” Richard South says. “He doesn’t hide and he’s made some great claims and relieved pressure, it’d be nice to see him get a bit of acknowledgment; I mean, he’s far from perfect but my days is he ever an upgrade on Mignolet!”
“Nobody played Wijnaldum onside!” Andrew Swift points out. “The ball was played back in by Dzeko, not a Liverpool player. Offside was never a question.”
It looks like it was Federico Fazio who played Gini Wijnaldum onside for the second goal. Roma have defended so badly.
Half-time: Roma 1-2 Liverpool (3-7 agg)
If Liverpool don’t go through they have to build a statue of Sir Alex Ferguson outside Anfield. Roma need four goals just to force extra-time.
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45 min: Pellegrini blooters the free-kick into the Tiber.
44 min: Lovren leans into El Shaarawy deep on the left, just outside the Liverpool area, and earns a booking.
42 min: Florenzi has a sight of goal, 15 yards out, but he slashes well wide.
41 min: A replay shows it was a bit of a dive from El Shaarawy, who tried to fool the referee into thinking Alexander-Arnold fouled him.
40 min: El Shaarawy tumbles in the area. No penalty.
35 min: De Shaarawy shimmies to earn a yard of space on the left. His tame shot from 20 yards takes a deflection off Milner and spins past Karius, who’s grateful to see it hit the left post and bounce to safety. Milner’s having a strange night.
34 min: What must Barcelona be thinking, though?
32 min: I’m going to turn over to Secret Life Of The Zoo on Channel 4 for a bit. Let me know if anything happens, yeah?
29 min: A throw from the right finds Firmino, who flicks the ball through to Salah. De Rossi desperately pushes the ball behind. Roma are creaking badly. Can this really be the team that stunned Barcelona? Here’s the thing: Liverpool have made them look second rate.
28 min: That should surely see Liverpool safely through. Their fans can start thinking about how to get to Kiev. Roma will do well not to totally collapse from here.
GOAL! Roma 1-2 Liverpool (Wijnaldum, 26 min; 3-7 agg)
Milner’s corner looks like it will lead to nothing. It’s headed high into the air. But when it drops, Dzeko only succeeds in inadvertently heading it back towards his own goal. Wijnaldum, played onside by Florenzi, has the simple task of nodding the ball past Alisson! What a soft goal. Roma need four more just to force extra-time.
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25 min: Liverpool attack for the first time in a while, Robertson brilliantly surging down the left, away from Schick and charging past Florenzi before cutting the ball back to Mane. He looks certain to score his second, only for Alisson to turn his close-range shot behind for a corner!
24 min: Alexander-Arnold’s down for a moment. Kolarov stood on his right foot. Ouch. He’s okay, though.
23 min: Karius claims a high cross, relieving some pressure. Good, assertive goalkeeping. Liverpool don’t need to panic. It’s hard to see them failing to score again.
20 min: Kolarov’s corner is headed away. “This has extra time written all over it,” says Jim Denvir.
19 min: Dzeko turns and feeds Kolarov. Lovren turns the Serbian’s cross behind.
17 min: James Milner was unlucky to see that crash off him and end up in the Liverpool net. But it was the shaky defending from Liverpool that makes you think they’ll struggle against Real Madrid in the final. Well, assuming they get there. But you have to wonder what Ronaldo would do to this defence.
16 min: The Roma fans have livened up again. The whistles are back. Mane curls one wide from 20 yards, earning jeers from the crowd.
GOAL! Roma 1-1 Liverpool (Milner own goal, 15 min; 3-6 agg)
Florenzi charges down the right and whips a deep cross to the far post. El Shaarawy rises above Alexander-Arnold and heads it into the six-yard box. Lovren, who’s prone to an error, strikes his clearance straight against Milner and the ball rebounds into the net, Karius unable to do anything about it! Oh dear! What misfortune! Roma are back in it.
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14 min: Van Dijk masterfully wins the ball of Dzeko and sets off on the break. Liverpool have so much space. The ball eventually comes to Salah on the right. He cuts inside and tries to bend one with his left foot from 20 yards. But it’s straight at Alisson.
13 min: “SAAAAAAADIO OLIMPICOOOOOOOO!!!” says Peter Oh.
11 min: Roma look for a swift response, Dzeko making a nuisance of himself again. He can’t get a shot away, though. They might not recover from that awful error from Nainggolan.
10 min: Liverpool almost break through again, with Roma stunned, but the ball runs away from Salah in the area and Alisson gathers.
GOAL! Roma 0-1 Liverpool (Mane, 9 min; 2-6 agg)
Under little pressure near the halfway line, Radja Nainggolan scuffs a dismal pass inside to Roberto Firmino. Mistake. Roma are exposed and Firmino bursts forward, bides his time and then releases Mane to his left. Mane, who was wasteful last week, takes a touch and then lashes a left-footed shot past Alisson! What a start for Liverpool! Their fans go crazy and Roma need four goals now!
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8 min: A huge roar from the Liverpool end, where the fans reckon their team should have a penalty, Manolas laying his hands on Mane’s back. The Senegalese goes down but play goes on. That looked risky from Manolas.
6 min: Roma’s direct approach is causing problems. Another long ball gives Dzeko a chance to use his muscular frame. He shakes off Robertson but the ball won’t come down for him to shoot. He’s forced a bit wide and there’s no one to convert his cross in the middle. Roma keep coming, though, and soon Florenzi’s whistling a shot just wide from 25 yards. This has been a good start from the Italians.”Can I express my surprise that Fazio is playing in a Champions League semi final,” says John Turnbridge. “In his time at Spurs he never seemed capable of tying his own shoe laces.”
5 min: De Rossi clobbers Salah in the middle, kneeing him up the backside. He apologises to his former team-mate. That’s nice of him. I’m sure it was heartfelt. Unlike the foul.
4 min: The corner leads to another piece of jittery Liverpool defending, but they eventually get the ball to safety. Roma fancy themselves here.
3 min: Kolarov slides a pass down the left and El Shaarawy muscles Alexander-Arnold off the ball. He plays it back to Kolarov, whose cross is deflected behind for a corner.
2 min: If the Roma fans think this is over, they’re hiding it well. What an atmosphere. Liverpool will need ear plugs if Roma score early.
Peep! Roma, in dark red, get the game underway. They’re kicking from right to left and they’re on the attack straight away, pumping the ball into the Liverpool area. There’s a brief spell of panic before Mane cuts out Dzeko’s pass. Liverpool, by the way, are in white shirts and black shorts. And they’re under pressure. Roma go direct again, El Shaarawy hooking a ball into the middle, Dzeko heading wide of the left post! Liverpool have been warned.
Here come the teams! We’ve already had some incredible games in this season’s Champions League and we could be in for another one tonight. It’s Roma, it’s Liverpool, it’s the Stadio Olimpico, and it’s about to begin. Roma have a three-goal deficit to chase. Liverpool have a 5-2 lead to protect. Expect drama.
Jurgen Klopp speaks! “I am as happy as you can be before the game. I want to be happy after the game. We did what we had to do and now we can start. You see the line-up of Roma. We win at home with a good result and it is clear the opponent wants to strike back. It is always clear we have to work again. We are here not to defend the three-goal lead, we are here to win a football game. Why should we change that? We know we have to defend with all we have but we will play football as well. Tonight we have to take both halves. It is going to be a very intense start and we have to be ready.”
Roma, of course, haven’t been in the final since 1984. The Stadio Olimpico’s filling up and the atmosphere is building. Liverpool will need to keep their heads in this din. I was at the Barcelona game and could barely hear myself think.
The Liverpool team emerges for the warm-up. The whistles from the home fans are ear-splitting.
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Future Rangers manager - or prospective Rangers manager - Steven Gerrard is in the BT studio. He’s asked about Jurgen Klopp’s No2, Zeljko Buvac, stepping away from Liverpool and insists that it won’t be an issue tonight. Maybe Gerrard could link up with Buvac at Arsenal, eh?
More of your emails!
“Liverpool are an utterly different animal from the Sevilla final,” Ian Copestake says. “Keeping Moreno on the sidelines so he can watch how returning players should play for their current side not their previous one is a vital difference.”
“Looking at Liverpool’s bench, do they even make a substitution today?” says Isaac Griffith.
“My friend Sally is already writing Madrid off, let alone Roma, and thinks her team Liverpool have their name on the trophy,” Stephen Yoxall says. “The stars certainly seem to be aligning for them but Roma are yet to concede at home, and if they do make it, as is likely, Madrid are no mugs at this level. Either way, tonight and the final promise to be great games. The tournament is so open nowadays. Is defending a lost art in the modern game?”
“That is my ideal line-up,” Marie Meyer says. “But the bench...terrifying. Please, starting XI: safety first!”
Roma have switched from a back three to a back four. Juan Jesus drops to the bench, as does Cengiz Under, and Kevin Strootman is injured. Lorenzo Pellegrini, Patrick Schick and Stephan El Shaarawy come into an attacking team.
Liverpool had a few injury worries but Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mane are fit to start. That means there’s only one change from the first leg, Gini Wijnaldum replacing the desperately unfortunate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who’s out for the season and the World Cup with a knee injury.
Team news
Roma: Alisson; Florenzi; Manolas, Fazio, Kolarov; De Rossi, Pellegrini, Nainggolan; Schick, Dzeko, El Shaarawy. Subs: Skorupski, Juan, Under, Gonalons, Gerson, Peres, Antonucci.
Liverpool: Karius; Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Milner, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mane. Subs: Mignolet, Clyne, Klavan, Moreno, Ings, Solanke, Woodburn.
Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia).
Jurgen Klopp: a positive man. You’d want to play for him, wouldn’t you?
It sounds like the security outside the Stadio Olimpico is very heavy. The buildup has been dominated by safety concerns, with Liverpool fans warned to be careful on their way to the ground. What a shame we have to think of these things. It’s only football.
We have our first emailer. “Klopp has learned his lesson from Europa meltdown vs Sevilla,” says Brandon Dwonch. “Going to play counter. MOTM, Gini. He solidifies his role in midfield for next season. 2-2.”
Pre-match reading
Preamble
Hello. I watched last week’s first leg with a couple of Liverpool fans. When it was over they both frowned and sighed and huffed. They both wore concerned expressions and, if you hadn’t seen the game, you would have thought that Liverpool had just been tonked 10-0. “Look on the bright side,” I said, hoping to cheer them up. “You probably would have taken 5-2 at kick-off.”
True story. A real doozy. Haven’t made up a bit of it. And although we could spend the next few paragraphs focusing on a very insightful and sensitive comment by yours truly, the point here is that the game did actually go pretty well for Liverpool. They scored five goals! Mohamed Salah ripped his former team to shreds! Roberto Firmino is a genius! Sadio Mane showed terrific mentality to get over a couple of dismal misses early on! They’ve already beaten Manchester City! They’re managed by Jurgen Klopp! They haven’t won the league for a few years – can anyone remember how long it’s been? – but they’re on the brink of their first European Cup final since 2007! Everything’s coming up Liverpool!
Or is it? Because when I asked another Liverpool fan how he was feeling on Monday night, he turned a very deep shade of green. I appealed to his sense of logic and reason but he wasn’t having any of it. He lived through Crystanbul, man. He’s seen things. He knows what this team can be like on a bad day. We all remember the second half in Seville and the late collapse at the Hawthorns the other day. We’ve all seen Loris Karius play football and we watched in awe as Roma, who can play some serious stuff when the mood takes them, pulled off an incredible comeback against Barcelona in their quarter-final. Another 3-0 win would have the Stadio Olimpico in a state of ecstasy again. In this year of shocks, is it so outlandish to think that Eusebio Di Francesco’s side, who haven’t conceded a home goal in the Champions League this season, have got it in them? You never know.
But surely this is totally ridiculous. Liverpool were 5-0 up in the first leg. They still won 5-2 despite a late wobble. They’re the highest scoring team in the competition and they have James Milner, assist machine. Oh, and Salah. Roma will be terrified whenever the Egyptian ... king ... has the ball. Basically, if Liverpool fail to join Real Madrid in the Kiev on 26 May, they should change their name to Manchester United Reserves.
Kick-off: 7.45pm BST, 8.45pm in Rome.
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