Liverpool blows away Man City in Champs League

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND » Liverpool blew away Manchester City with three goals in the first 31 minutes Wednesday to secure a 3-0 first-leg win at a rocking Anfield and close in on a first Champions League semifinal in a decade.

On another European night that will go down in the club’s storied lore, Liverpool reduced the best team in England to a rattled wreck as Mohamed Salah — with his 38th goal of the season — Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sadio Mane all scored in front of The Kop.

The Reds then held firm under incessant second-half pressure to stop City’s attacking juggernaut from getting an away goal that would have changed the complexion of the quarterfinal matchup, especially given that Salah hobbled off injured and could be a doubt for next week’s second leg at Etihad Stadium.

City’s dream of a treble — it has already won the League Cup and could clinch the Premier League on Saturday in record time — might have disappeared in a 19-minute spell where the visitors folded in a red-hot Anfield atmosphere.

BARCELONA 4, ROMA 1 BARCELONA, SPAIN » A pair of own goals by Daniele De Rossi and Kostas Manolas helped Barcelona beat Roma in the opening leg of their Champions League quarterfinal.

De Rossi’s scrambling attempt to cut off a pass by Andres Iniesta for Lionel Messi backfired as the Italy international sliced the ball into the lower corner of Roma’s net for 38th-minute opener.

Kostas suffered similar bad luck in the 55th when his clearance of a low cross by Ivan Rakitic hit the post and ricocheted off Barcelona’s Samuel Umtiti before finally crossing the goal-line.

Barcelona pressed its advantage and Gerard Pique scored a third goal four minutes later when he only had to tap in the rebound from a save by goalkeeper Alisson Becker, who palmed a shot by Luis Suarez right to the unmarked defender.