Klopp’s maturing Kops march on in Europe
“We had a long way to go after the first leg but all credit to the coach because he invented this formation two days ago, he drilled it into our heads and it worked wonders,” midfielder De Rossi told reporters after Roma went through on away goals.
Dzeko also waxed lyrical about his side’s tactics and said he played with more freedom alongside Patrik Schick in attack, with Radja Nainggolan, who missed the first leg with injury, behind them. “I have never seen Barcelona struggle so much,” he said. We pressed them throughout the game from the first minute. “It was easier for me to play when Schick and Radja were closer to me, it created more space and stretched their defence. It was the first time we played with three at the back and we did great.” MANCHESTER: Liverpool showed they have developed defensive steel alongside their attacking flair as they withstood waves of Manchester City attacks on Tuesday to emerge with a 2-1 win and advance 5-1 on aggregate in their Champions League quarterfinal.
At The Etihad, Pep Guardiola’s wounded team got a boost from a second minute opener through Gabriel Jesus but Liverpool held firm, with a bit of good fortune at times, and the visitors then completed the job clinically with two second half goals from Mohammed Salah and Roberto Firmino.
“We mature constantly,” said Barcelona are all but sure of lifting the La Liga title this season. However, Valverde’s decision to field a strong line-up against Leganes to Of Barcelona’s last 14 goals in the last five matches, Messi has scored eight of them while two had come off as own goals in their last leg against AS Roma. While Messi couldn’t help his side on Wednesday, Busquets played with an injured toe, which simply proves that Valverde is short on reserves when switching to Plan B. Klopp after the game in which Liverpool became the first team to beat a Guardiola-managed side three times in one season.
“The boys are getting more and more used to this. If you could say something about us in the past, on an average day we lose ensure that only meant his first-choice players were not fresh for the tie. Moreover, he introduced fresh legs very late in the game with the first substitute coming on in the 81st minute.
From a 4-5-1 formation in the last leg, Roma approached the game with a much more attacking outlook with a 3-5-2 formation. De Rossi admitted that Roma coach Eusebio Di Francesco had come up with the plan just two days back. Roma kept attacking the opposition defence line with long balls in the box. Barcelona, who are more used to passing the ball around and building play from midfield were found wanting as long balls disrupted their smooth style. The first goal came in a similar manner.
cheap goals. We’ve worked at that,” said the German. “They took all the risks they could take, we needed a bit of luck and a disci-
Roma became the 29th side in history to reach the Champions League semifinal
Only twice had a three-goal deficit been overturned before
Roma are yet to concede at home this season in the Champions League
I would be lying if I said we could use this as a learning experience because last year we went out in a similar way SERGIO BUSQUETS, Barcelona midfielder
plined defending formation. I was not overly happy at half-time to be honest,” said Klopp.
PEP CHARGED WITH IMPROPER CONDUCT
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has been charged with improper conduct after being sent to the stands in Tuesday’s 2-1 Champions League defeat by Liverpool, Uefa said on Wednesday.
Guardiola protested about forward Leroy Sane’s disallowed goal at the end of the first half. He was charged for communicating with the team’s technical staff in the second half. Uefa also charged Liverpool after their fans set off fireworks and threw objects inside the Etihad Stadium.