SALAH makes history again in the Champions League final
Mohamed Salah has become the first Egyptian player ever to reach the Champions League final on Wednesday as the Premier League side secured their spot with a 7-6 aggregate victory over Roma.
Liverpool reached the Champions League final after riding their luck to contain a fired-up AS Roma in a 4-2 defeat at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday following a 5-2 first-leg victory at Anfield.
The five-times European champions, who will face holders Real Madrid in the May 26 final, twice took the lead but were forced to hang on in the second half as Roma created chances before Radja Nainggolan’s two late goals put them ahead on the night.
Liverpool’s Sadio Mane was their most potent attacking threat and gave them the lead after nine minutes, but a bizarre own goal by James Milner levelled for Roma.
A Georginio Wijnaldum header put Liverpool back in front but Roma, who overturned a three-goal deficit to beat Barcelona in the last round, were given renewed belief when Edin Dzeko fired past Loris Karius early in the second half.
Nainggolan drilled in from distance after 86 minutes to make it 3-2 and smashed home a penalty in stoppage-time but it was too late for the Italian side who lost the first leg of the semi-final 5-2 in Liverpool.
“We never do it the easy way unfortunately,” Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson said. “It was an amazing effort. In the first half we did well and scored some good goals. Overall we handled the situation well apart from the last 10 minutes.”
Liverpool’s task was seemingly straightforward — avoid suffering a three-goal defeat and a place in the final in Kiev was theirs.
Their 5-2 first-leg victory at Anfield was a scoreline that had never been overturned in the competition’s history, but Barcelona’s shock defeat in the same stadium had served as a warning against complacency.
The crowd certainly seemed to believe a repeat result was possible and the noise levels increased as Liverpool were pushed back in the opening moments.
Mohamed Salah interview after the game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgZweMxECdM
