WIJNALDUM INSISTS REDS ARE READY

GEORGINIO WIJNALDUM has warned Roma that Liverpool won’t get caught out again tonight.

Liverpool are in Rome for tonight’s Champions League semi-final, second leg clash with a 5-2 lead from the first game at Anfield.

Jurgen Klopp’s side also held a three-goal lead when they went to Manchester City in the quarter-finals.

But they found themselves with their backs to the wall when Gabriel Jesus scored after just two minutes.

The Reds eventually recovered thanks to second-half goals from Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino to seal an epic 5-1 aggregate win.

But Wijnaldum says Liverpool won’t make the same mistakes as they did against City, even in the hostile surroundings of the Stadio Olimpico.

He said: “I think we were too impressed by the way they (City) were playing.

“We knew it would be difficult and hard but we didn’t know how hard it would be and in that case you are lucky the game has two halves to play as we could recover and play a good second half.

“We were surprised, I think, with their unbelievable attacking speed. We were motivated and concentrated but surprised, we weren’t really ready for what was to come.

“At half-time the manager said we didn’t need to be scared.

Aware

“We just have to play our own game and if we played football we would create chances as there was so much space in behind because they were playing with five or six attackers.

“That experience will always help you, you will always learn from games. But every game is not the same, not the same emotion.

“It is important you deal with that situation at that moment. We know what we can expect.

“With City, they have so many quality players you have to be aware of everything and it is almost impossible to stop them. That is why it is really good we still did it.”

While they looked scared in the City game, it was actually January’s league clash with Pep Guardiola’s champions that turned out to be the lightbulb moment for Liverpool.

The Reds ran riot to take a 4-1 lead before City pulled back two late goals.

But it was enough to convince the Liverpool dressing room they were on to something special.

Asked to pinpoint the turning point in their season, Wijnaldum said: “The league game against City when they came to us and hadn’t lost a game and we beat them.

“Everyone is passive against City because they have so much quality, it doesn’t matter how you defend they will create chances any way.

“We just played our game, tried to press them and make it as difficult as possible and it worked and it gave us a lot of confidence.

“Every time we had bad games we stepped up and did great, not always with good football but we gave everything we could, and from that moment we knew we can reach something with this team.”