Champions League: Roma's profligacy against Liverpool ensures their roller-coaster ride meets a dead end

It took nine minutes to crack the dream. It took 26 to demolish it. Or so everyone thought. Roma’s second-half rally, though, broke the narrative. It brought the host on the verge of a place in the final but profligacy ensured a turnaround did not materialise. Edin Dzeko could have had a second-half hat-trick, his teammates fluffed their lines, and two reasonable penalty shouts were overlooked by the referee. The miracle would just not appear for Roma. [caption id=“attachment_4455005” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Roma’s Edin Dzeko in action against Liverpool in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final. Reuters[/caption] Radja Nainggolan’s brace towards the end suggested the wheels of fortune had another round left in them but the clock was ahead of everyone. Eventually, though, Liverpool made it to the Champions League final at Roma’s expense because Eusebio di Francesco’s players could not rid themselves of their error-prone ways. If one thought the Italian club had left such tendencies behind on the Merseyside, it was certainly not the case. The mistakes arrived early. First, Radja Nainggolan misplaced a pass to let Roberto Firmino run free and set up Sadio Mane for a simple finish. About fifteen minutes later, it was Roma’s set-piece defending which went for a toss. Georginio Wijnaldum exploited the chaos. Against a Liverpool side which had scored five goals in a match four times during this Champions League campaign, those mistakes proved deadly. Even though Roma did pull a goal back in between the visitor’s strikes, scoring four more goals was a nearly impossible task for the Giallorossi. However, as the clock turned past the hour mark, the intensity rose and gripped the host in its passion. A chance every minute arrived. But Roma could not apply the decisive touch. Liverpool’s defence flailed and survived. It did so only because Roma’s generosity showed no signs of abating. Liverpool struggled to hold the host off, even as it enjoyed a significant advantage. The situation was, in the words of manager Jurgen Klopp, “crazy.” “For both teams, it would have been crazy to play extra time, two times 15 minutes. I have no clue how that would have happened!” It probably would not have ended well for Liverpool. Jordan Henderson and James Milner could afford to joke about how it all went down at the end but it was a bit farcical that a team which led 5-0 at one point in this tie only managed to win it 7-6. In European Cup history, this was the second-highest aggregate for a semi-final. “We never do it the easy way, unfortunately”, skipper Henderson summed up neatly. Certainly, if Liverpool is to allow so many chances in the final, Real Madrid will make life even tougher. Before the match, Klopp claimed he was as happy as he could be. By the end, perhaps, not so much. If familiar ghosts had not returned to haunt Di Francesco’s side, this could have been a night of catastrophe for the Reds. However, one does need to note the element of fatigue here. Klopp has been almost forced to play the same team in every game as his bench strength is depleted. Injuries have accounted for multiple players in the squad. While he was still able to choose his strongest eleven on Wednesday, with the possible exception of the wounded Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, the option of rotating his first team is not really there. If Liverpool is able to hold out against Chelsea this weekend, Klopp and his players will have about three weeks to focus their energies on the final in Kiev. It does look like his team can do with a break. If the defensive problems can be smoothened, Liverpool’s prospects will significantly improve. After all, Klopp’s team can become the highest scoring Champions League side ever, in the tournament’s current format, if it scores twice in the final. The 2013-14 Real Madrid team holds the current record with 41 goals; Barcelona scored 45 in the 1999-00 season but that was in 16 games, three more than Madrid. As for Roma, Di Francesco has much to be proud about even as he reflects on things which could have gone better. To the manager’s credit, Roma did shift to a 4-3-3 formation on Wednesday, although the unfit pair of Diego Perotti and Kevin Strootman missed out. Taking cues from the first leg, Di Francesco pushed the defensive line deeper and Federico Fazio was almost asked to play the role of an old-fashioned sweeper. The idea was to deny Liverpool space behind the defence. In the other half of the pitch, Roma sought to hurt the visiting side with direct balls – a tactic which has worked wonders for Di Francesco’s men all season. Although the football was entertaining, it was inevitable that some refereeing decisions would come under the scanner in the aftermath. It must be said that the two penalty shouts for Roma were reasonable claims, and they could have been awarded to the host if VAR was in place, but they were tough calls to make in real time. Of course, marginal decisions needed to go in the Giallorossi’s favour for it to complete an incredible comeback. Barcelona’s favourable luck when it overcame Paris Saint-Germain last season is a case in point. Even though Roma owner James Pallotta made a strong case for VAR’s inclusion in Champions League afterwards, Roma eventually suffered because it was too willing in the face of pressure. One could say the same about Liverpool but Klopp’s players are arguably the most clinical bunch in this season’s Champions League. Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, and Sadio Mane have scored 29 goals between them in the competition. Real Madrid will still be the favourite in the final on account of its superior experience. But the presence of Liverpool’s thundering trio is likely to give Zinedine Zidane headaches.