Liverpool’s Georginio Wijnaldum fears Roma’s two late goals in their 5-2 Champions League semi-final first-leg defeat will give the Italian side confidence they can repeat their miracle comeback against Barcelona. Jurgen Klopp’s team, inspired by their Egyptian goalscoring star Mohammed Salah, stormed into a 5-0 lead on Tuesday but Roma grabbed two away goals late on. Wijnaldum belives Liverpool, who beat Premier League champions Manchester City 5-1 in the last eight, have the quality to complete the job and reach the Champions League final.
However, the 27-year-old Dutch international is aware of how Roma produced one of the biggest shocks in recent years by overhauling Barcelona’s 4-1 first-leg lead in the quarter-finals, winning 3-0 to progress on away goals.
“We know we can score goals but we have to do it there and we must try not to concede because that will give them more confidence,” said Wijnaldum. “I think those two goals have given them much more encouragement because their last result against Barcelona was 4-1 and they scored three goals at home so that will give them confidence. We also know what happened there so we have to be aware that it doesn’t happen to us. But our last game against City (first leg) was 3-0 and we were all satisfied and it is the same situation we are all in now.”
Roma host Liverpool in the second leg next Wednesday, with the Italians bidding to reach their first European Cup final since they lost on penalties to the same opponents in the 1984 final. Liverpool, who have won five European Cups in their illustrious history, have not been in the final since AC Milan defeated them in 2007.
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