Two teams that nobody thought would make it to the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League face off each other tonight. Liverpool and Roma have been the stories of the season so far. The first leg that saw 7 goals being scored by the two teams was enthralling. Liverpool have a 3-goal cushion, yet Roma haven’t been written off. What the Romans did to the Catalan giants is still echoing in everyone’s mind.
Roma were dominated by their very own, Mo Salah. The man whose £35 million fee to many looked a gamble have almost quadrupled his value. In Mo Salah, Liverpool have found not only a playmaker but a genuine goal scorer. So much is his value that Roma’s striker Edin Dzeko accepted that he misses playing with the Egyptian God. Salah scored 2 goals and assisted twice in the first leg and it was after his substitution that Roma managed to pull 2 crucial away goals back.
The Roman’s did this to Barcelona the last time they faced a team in the UCL in their home and nobody is writing them off yet. With the likes of Cengiz Under and Edin Dzeko leading the line and the experience of De Rossi, Roma are a genuine threat.
Whatever the outcome of the match, both teams have been praised for the quality of football they played this season. The front three of the Liverpool have 28 goals in the UCL among themselves and are the leading goal scoring team this season in the UCL. Liverpool in Firmino have one of the most underrated no.9 in the world right now and the mighty Senegalese who have been comparatively quiet according to many have yet managed to score 8 goals in the competition thus far.
Roma themselves have a potent attack with the resurrected Edin Dzeko leading the line. They can manage to score 3 goals against any team, but the major question is if they will be able to stop Klopp’s rampaging Liverpool from scoring.
The match at Rome will be a memorable one, given no one gave either of the teams a chance to come this far. Whosoever wins the tie will face the European giants, Real Madrid, who have been scrappy but managed to make their way through to the finals for the 3rd consecutive time.
In short, we are in for another memorable ending to the season.
