Liverpool reaches Champions League final despite loss
Way back in August when Liverpool was sweating its way through the playoffs just to qualify for the Champions League group phase, going all the way to the final wasn’t even on the Reds’ radar.
Not after a season in which Liverpool didn’t even play in Europe.
Not when no one could have imagined that Mohamed Salah would develop into a scorer to rival Lionel Messi. Or that Liverpool would score a Champions League-record 46 goals — surpassing the mark set by Barcelona in 1999-2000.
Yet 10 months later, Liverpool is going to face two-time defending champion Real Madrid for the most coveted trophy in club football.
Liverpool advanced to the Champions League final May 26 in Kiev, Ukraine, despite a 4-2 loss at Roma on Wednesday. The Reds advanced 7-6 on aggregate.
“We came in as a qualifier and now we’re in the final,” Liverpool coach Juergen Klopp said. “Now we will go to Kiev, which sounds crazy but is the truth. We will go to Kiev.”
Roma was left feeling aggrieved about two penalty decisions that weren’t given.
“That was ridiculous,” Roma coach Eusebio Di Francesco said. “But Liverpool certainly didn’t steal anything from us. They played 45 extraordinary minutes (in the first leg) and we played two second halves that were just as extraordinary.”
NFL: General manager John Lynch confirmed the 49ers won’t pick up the $9.6 million fifth-year option on Laken Tomlinson’s contract for 2019 before Thursday’s deadline. Lynch did tell KNBR the team is interested in signing the starting left guard to a long-term contract.
“I actually pulled Laken in here ... and had a great talk with him about that this is in no way a reflection of what we think or don’t think of him,” Lynch said. “We’re going to work toward making Laken a part of us for the long-term future.”
Lynch said the inclusion of tackles, who are higher paid, skewed the option number and made it prohibitive when it came to Tomlinson. Only eight NFL guards have an average salary of more than $9.6 million, according to overthecap.com. — Eric Branch ⏩ The Cleveland Browns traded tight end Randall Telfer to the Kansas City Chiefs for defensive end Dadi Nicolas. The Browns also claimed linebacker Jermaine Grace off waivers from Indianapolis.
⏩ The Pittsburgh Steelers placed linebacker Ryan Shazier on injured reserve for the 2018 season to give him more time to recover from spinal-stabilization surgery.
Shazier, 25, injured in a game at Cincinnati in December, has remained active in the organization during his rehabilitation.
⏩ In other NFL moves, the Jacksonville Jaguars declined to exercise the fifth-year option in defensive end Dante Fowler’s rookie contract. The decision could mean Fowler, the third overall pick in the 2015 draft, will become a free agent in 2019. ... The Tennessee Titans have agreed to terms with safety Kendrick Lewis while waiving safety Denzel Johnson.
Motor sports: Spencer Gallagher has been suspended indefinitely from NASCAR for violating its substance-abuse policy, less than a week after winning his first career Xfinity Series race title..
Gallagher, 28, agreed to participate in NASCAR’s substance-abuse-recovery program. Other details were not disclosed.
⏩ Formula One announced it wants to stage a street race in Miami starting in 2019, and the city commission has scheduled a vote next week on a proposal to formalize plans for a 10-year deal.
The series has long sought to enlarge its presence in the United States. A Miami race would be the second in the U.S., joining the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.