Liverpool v Roma preview: Jurgen Klopp wants Anfield atmosphere for Champions League semi-final

Jurgen Klopp has urged Liverpool fans to "create one of the most special atmospheres in world football" at Anfield as they take on Roma in the Champions League.

Liverpool welcome the Italian side in their semi-final first-leg tie on Tuesday evening, and Klopp is hoping the environment in the stadium can help his team take a step towards the final in Kiev.

Klopp did urge fans to show respect to Roma following ugly scenes ahead of their quarter-final with Manchester City last month, but is hopeful it will not be an issue again.

"They create a few of the most special atmospheres in world football," Klopp said. "In the stadium, I don't know exactly if the atmosphere can be better than it was against Manchester City, but if it's possible let's try. These are the very special moments.

"In the stadium, do it again and better; outside the stadium, please show the respect we have to show. This is such a fantastic football club, an outstanding football family, known for fantastic atmospheres all over the world.

"If we can do what we did, creating an atmosphere in front of the stadium, let's do it - I'm a big fan of that. But, please, show the respect they deserve."

Roma will come up against a familiar face when they arrive at Anfield, with Mohamed Salah likely to start for Liverpool following his PFA Player of the Year win on Sunday evening.

Mo Salah will go up against his former side when they meet this week

Roma boss, Eusebio di Francesco, said: "We haven't prepared the match based on Salah. He's not here anymore, but I can call on the likes of [Cengiz] Under. We'll obviously focus more on their best players, but not only on Salah.

"Liverpool will have the fans on their side, but our away fans will support us. We need to play as a team more than ever. Liverpool are different to Barcelona in terms of pace and we need to play well to win."

Team news

Liverpool defender Nathaniel Clyne is back in training but is likely to be on the bench after missing Saturday's draw against West Brom with a muscle injury, but has now recovered.

Trent Alexander-Arnold - rested at The Hawthorns - is expected to start against the Italians and Klopp will recall all his big names after making five changes at the weekend, meaning a probable return for Dejan Lovren, Andrew Robertson, Roberto Firmino and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

For Roma, Diego Perotti has could make a return after being sidelined for three weeks, although Rick Karsdorp and Gregoire Defrel are set to miss out with injury.

Opta facts

• This is the sixth European meeting between Liverpool and Roma and the first since March 2002 in the second group stage of the Champions League - of the previous five, Liverpool have won two, with two draws and one Roma win.
• Liverpool are yet to lose to Roma in the European Cup/Champions League in three meetings (W1 D2), with one of those draws in the 1984 final, which Liverpool won 4-2 on penalties in the Stadio Olimpico.

Klopp warns Salah to expect unfriendly Roma

Mohamed Salah can expect a hard time from his former Roma team-mates, according to Jurgen Klopp.

Mohamed Salah can expect a hard time from his former Roma team-mates, according to Jurgen Klopp

• Roma are appearing in their first European semi-final for 27 years, when they faced Brondby in the UEFA Cup in 1990-91. Their only previous European Cup/Champions League semi-final was in 1983-84, when they eliminated Dundee United to face Liverpool in the final.
• Liverpool haven't won the first leg of a European semi-final in any of their last seven attempts (D3 L4), since a 4-0 win over Panathinaikos in the European Cup in 1984-85.
• Edin Dzeko has been involved in six of Roma's last eight away Champions League goals (5 goals, 1 assist) - the Bosnian has scored two goals in his last three starts at Anfield against Liverpool (both for Man City in January 2012 and March 2015).

Roma beat Barcelona in their Champions League quarter-final

• Mo Salah has scored in each of his last four Champions League starts for Liverpool - the only Reds player to score in five consecutively was Steven Gerrard between October 2007 and February 2008.
• Roma are without a clean sheet in their last 26 away Champions League matches; the second longest run in the competition's history behind only Celtic, who went 30 away matches without one between 2001 and 2016.

Charlie's prediction

I think it will be a very tight game. They haven't struggled with it quite as much this season, but it still isn't as easy for Liverpool when teams sit back, with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane far more dangerous when they have space to attack.

I covered Roma's first leg against Barcelona and they were unlucky to concede four goals. They know this Liverpool attack is as dangerous as Barca's so there's no reason for them to open up.

Roberto Firmino is expected to return to the starting XI for Liverpool on Tuesday

What Roma did against Barca was double up and squeezed Lionel Messi and they'll do the same against Salah, who they obviously know well, so I actually think Mane is their main threat.

Mane is the one who has the really dynamic speed in behind and with the focus of their marking being on Roberto Firmino and Salah, it should leave him the chance to execute his brilliant ability to operate on the shoulders of defenders.

Liverpool need to win this game as a draw makes Roma favourites, but I think they will get the victory, perhaps with a late goal in a performance which will require patience.

Charlie predicts: 1-0 and Mane to score first

Devido às chuvas, Santa Cruz solicita à CBF mudança do jogo contra o ABC para a Arena PE

Partida contra equipe potiguar vai ter dia e horário mantidos: sábado, às 16h

O Santa Cruz solicitou à CBF nesta segunda-feira a mudança do palco da partida contra o ABC, no próximo sábado, às 16h, pela terceira rodada da Série C. Com o gramado do Arruda castigado devido às fortes chuvas que têm caído no Recife nos últimos dias, a ideia da diretoria é levar o jogo para a Arena de Pernambuco. O clube já ajustou tudo com a administração do estádio e aguarda apenas a oficialização da mudança de local.

"Não podemos ficar reféns neste momento do tempo, do clima. A gente esta avaliando possibilidade, fizemos a solicitação para tentar transferir jogo para a arena e estamos aguardando a resposta", afirmou o vice-presidente de futebol do Santa Cruz, Felipe Rego Barros.

No ano passado, o Tricolor fez cinco partidas como mandante na Arena de Pernambuco durante o Campeonato Brasileiro da Série B. Na ocasião, conquistou duas vitórias, dois empates e sofreu uma derrota frente à uma média de público de 6.374 torcedores. 

A partida diante do ABC, no sábado, poderá valer a liderança do Brasileiro para o Tricolor - atualmente em terceiro lugar com quatro pontos, sendo dois a menos que o líder Confiança. Além disso, outro atrativo, é a estreia do técnico PC Gusmão à beira do gramado.

Abaixo, números do Santa Cruz como mandante na Arena durante a Série B 2017:

24/06 – Santa Cruz 1 x 1 Figueirense (9.079 pessoas, R$ 118.070)

07/07 – Santa Cruz 3 x 0 Brasil (6.009, R$ 55.850)

18/07 – Santa Cruz 1 x 0 Vila Nova (6.731, R$ 60.610)

21/03 – Santa Cruz 1 x 1 Boa Esporte (6.451, R$ 56.990)

01/08 – Santa Cruz 1 x 2 Paysandu (3.603, R$ 30.030)

superesportes

Após a conquista do título pernambucano, Náutico vive o seu pior momento na temporada

Timbu soma uma vitória, um empate e duas derrotas. ambas de goleada, após levantar o estadual em cima do Central, seu pior recorte em 2018

Há pouco mais de duas semanas, o torcedor do Náutico extravasava de felicidade com a conquista do título pernambucano, encerrando assim um jejum de 13 anos sem taças, o maior da história do clube. Porém, dificilmente esse mesmo torcedor imaginasse que em tão pouco tempo, a alegria de voltar a ser campeão daria lugar a preocupação. Isso porque, após o a volta olímpica último dia 8, na Arena de Pernambuco, o Timbu entrou em seu pior momento na temporada.

Desde o triunfo por 2 a 1 sobre o Central, o Náutico voltou a campo outras quatro vezes, com duas derrotas acachapantes (3 a 0 para a Ponte Preta, pela Copa do Brasil, e 4 a 0 frente o Botafogo-PB, pela Série C), um empate no clássico diante do Santa Cruz por 1 a 1 (com o tricolor terminando a partida melhor) e apenas uma vitória, por 1 a 0 sobre a Ponte Preta, com o alvirrubro mais uma vez jogando mal. Resultado que também acabou sendo inútil já que o time terminou eliminado da Copa do Brasil.

Até então, o pior recorte do Náutico havia sido registrado logo no início da temporada, com apenas uma vitória nos quatro primeiros jogos (foram três empates). Porém, além do desconto de ser o início de trabalho, há também o fato de que o Timbu já abriu 2018 tendo dois jogos eliminatórios contra o Itabaiana pela seletiva da Copa do Nordeste, com a classificação saindo apenas nos pênaltis.

O péssimo início de Série C pode ser visto na classificação do Grupo A, onde o Timbu está na zona de rebaixamento, com um ponto conquistado e um saldo de quatro gols negativos. No próximo domingo, o Náutico volta a campo diante do Atlético-AC, na Arena da Floresta, com a necessidade de vitória. Porém, na temporada, o time venceu apenas dois dos 15 jogos que realizou como visitante. O último, por 1 a 0 sobre o Cuiabá, pela terceira fase da Copa do Brasil, com gol do atacante paraguaio Ortigoza.

superesportes

Champions League semi-final Ultimate Guide: Liverpool v Roma

AN unlikely berth in the Champions League final awaits the winner of the semi-final clash between Liverpool and Roma.

Genuinely surprising survivors at the final four stage of the tournament, both sides have proven their mettle this season despite failing to forge deep runs into the tournament in recent years and deserve their chance to vie for a spot in Kiev.

The Reds are the Champions League’s leading scorers this season, owing largely to the exploits of a rampant front three featuring Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah – their Egyptian talisman who was bought for a seemingly bargain fee from Roma at the start of this season.

Salah’s first clash with his former employers could be the decisive factor in the match up, with the prolific wide man’s 41-goal season having propelled his team to favouritism.

“We know how well he’s doing at the moment at Liverpool, that he’s a player who can do something different, but Roma deserve to be in the semi-final,” Roma right back Bruno Peres said about his side’s thoughts on facing their former teammate.

Eusebio di Francesco’s Roma reached the final four with a miracle win over Barcelona – netting three unanswered goals at home to knock out Lionel Messi and co.

The English club won the first of its five European titles in Rome in 1977, and got its fourth seven years later by beating Roma in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw.

That was the only other season in which the Italian club advanced as far as the semifinals. Liverpool last got this far in 2008.

Here is your Ultimate Guide to the pair’s Champions League semi-final clash…

WHEN AND WHERE IS IT?

First Leg: 25 April at Anfield, Liverpool. Kick-off is scheduled for 4:45am AEST.

Second Leg: 3 April at Stadio Olimpico, Rome. Kick-off is scheduled for 4:45am AEST.

HOW CAN YOU WATCH IT?

Watch the match live on beIN Sports 1.

TEAM NEWS

Liverpool predicted XI: Karius, Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson, Henderson, Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mane, Salah, Firmino

Injury concerns: Adam Lallana, Joel Matip and Emre Can all remain out injured, while Nathaniel Clyne is unlikely to feature as he continues to recover from a long term injury.

Roma predicted X I: Alisson, Jesus, Manolas, Fazio, Kolarov, Nainggolan, De Rossi, Strootman, Florenzi, Dzeko, Shick

Injury concerns: Rick Karsdorp and Gregoire Defrel are both out injured.

KEY STATS

Head to head

Played 5 – Liverpool 3 wins, Roma 1 win, 1 drawn

Past Meetings

19/3/02 – Liverpool 2-0 Roma in UCL

5/12/01 – Roma 0-0 Liverpool in UCL

22/2/01 – Liverpool 0-1 Roma in UEFA Cup

15/2/01 – Roma 0-2 Liverpool in UEFA Cup

30/5/84 – Roma 1-1 Liverpool in European Cup

WHY LIVERPOOL WILL WIN

Attacking fire power.

The Reds have made their way through Europe this season via clinical finishing and outstanding quality in their front three.

Against City, their tactical game was flawless as Jurgen Klopp masterminded a massive boilover and again the German’s game plan will be key.

But it is Salah who shapes as the game changer once again, although if there’s anyone who knows how to stop him – it’s his former teammates.

WHY ROMA WILL WIN

Resolute defending and tactical awareness.

“We will have to play very well up front but at the same time remain solid at the back. We need to focus on our strength and our tactical belief. We are aware that Liverpool are plenty of quality. I will watch some of their games to prepare the game,” Di Francesco said ahead of the first leg

The Italian side will need to take their chances and do their best to keep the Reds front three at bay if they’re to get a result.

Roma right to believe at Anfield

The Capital club have defied expectation in Europe and should be confident ahead of their semi-final against Liverpool, writes Nick Valerio.

The final four of this year’s Champions League reads: holders Real Madrid, German heavyweights Bayern Munich, English giants Liverpool and Roma.

While the first two clubs listed are expected to reach the latter stages of the tournament on a yearly basis, the Merseyside team and the Lupi are welcome surprises, and it won’t bother Roma that they are less favoured than their more esteemed rivals. Eusebio Di Francesco’s gladiators have been, and continue to be, underestimated, but have beaten the odds all year on the continent and thoroughly deserve their semi-final spot.

Unsurprisingly, the English press celebrated Liverpool’s pairing with Roma, already planning their participation in the May final, but the Lupi too would have been content with the draw, as the squads are evenly matched.

For all the talk of Liverpool’s dazzling frontline, the Giallorossi have stars of their own, and are stronger in at least two departments.

Highly rated Alisson Becker is a far superior stopper to Loris Karius, winning matches almost single-handedly for his side this term. In midfield, the legendary Daniele De Rossi will link up with the dynamic Kevin Strootman and heartbeat of the side Radja Nainngolan, a trio comfortably more talented than Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Meanwhile, Edin Dzeko is back to his best and his key role in the historic quarter-final triumph over Barcelona shouldn’t be forgotten. The solitary goal in the 4-1 defeat at Camp Nou proved invaluable. While the hosts have improved at the back since Virgil van Dijk’s £75m arrival, they are still suspect defensively and the red hot Bosnian will fancy his chances of getting on the scoresheet at a ground he fared so well on for previous club Manchester City.

Of course, much will depend on the resilience of Federico Fazio and Kostas Manolas, two wall-like figures in the Roma backline and Di Francesco’s approach to the contest will be key. The up and coming Italian tactician will have watched the Anfield demolition job of Pep Guardiola’s men and is too savvy not to tailor his game plan.

Ultimately, it was Guardiola’s stubbornness and refusal to adapt his tactics which cost his side the tie within just 45 minutes and Di Francesco is unlikely to go blow for blow and play in to Liverpool’s hands in the same manner.

Even if the Lupi were to lose by two clear goals, this deficit would not be insurmountable back in Italy. This is a Roma side who have played as well as any other club in the Champions League, topping group C ahead of much fancied Chelsea and Atletico Madrid, thrashing the English champions 3-0 on home soil. The achievements don’t end there.

Roma hit the headlines for systematically dismantling a Barcelona squad who have gone 33 games unbeaten domestically and, in truth, the 3-0 scoreline flattered the La Liga champions elect.

Vitally and perhaps more significantly, the Lupi have been in formidable form in the Eternal City, and have yet to concede at the Olimpico, and another shut out in the deciding leg could be enough to continue one of the feel good stories of the season.

LIVERPOOL AND ROMA’S CLASSIC ANFIELD DUEL OF 2002

The expected flood of nostalgia that’s ramped up over the past couple of weeks following Liverpool’s march into the Champions League semi-finals is a product almost as much of their opponents at this stage as of the club’s rich history in the competition.

As soon as it was revealed that Jürgen Klopp’s men would face Roma, memories were instantly cast back to the famous encounter between the two sides in 1984’s European Cup final – a match that immediately conjures recollections of Liverpool’s glorious eighties. Bruce Grobbelaar’s theatrics, Alan Kennedy’s shootout heroics, and the vivid colour and cluster of a baying Rome crowd that night have cemented the game’s status in the pantheon of European classics. 

Yet the pair’s last meeting in this competition, back in 2002, is another that merits recounting as the sides prepare to duke it out for a place in the final. Featuring a Roma team at their zenith and a young, hungry Liverpool side carving out a name for themselves as one of Europe’s rising forces, the clash saw Anfield enveloped in the type of raw, cacophonous emotion it must replicate if the Reds are to reach their first European Cup final in over a decade.

The stakes couldn’t have been much higher as Liverpool welcomed Roma to the cauldron of Anfield on that chilly night in March. UEFA still employed the second group phase format in the Champions League, one which would be replaced by the Round of 16 two seasons later, and nothing less than a win would do for the Reds; their qualification hinged on victory over Roma by two goals, and failure by Galatasaray to beat Barcelona. Roma, on the other hand, would book their ticket to the next round simply by avoiding defeat.

The Liverpool side of 2002 was an undoubtedly more prosaic outfit than Klopp’s current team, with little to rival the panache of the Mané-Firmino-Salah axis that’s cut such a swathe through England and Europe this season. They were, nonetheless, a robust and effective unit, with a sturdy defensive bedrock built around the central partnership of Sami Hyypiä and Stéphane Henchoz, the still-green Steven Gerrard added splashes of colour with his explosive midfield play, and Ballon d’Or winner Michael Owen was the free-scoring jewel in Liverpool’s attack.

A characteristic injury to the Chester man, however, ruled him out of the Roma clash, meaning that Emile Heskey and the refined Jari Litmanen were partnered up front, charged with the task of breaching the Italians’ unflappable rearguard.

Roma may be surprise guests in the semi-finals of this season’s competition, but in 2002 they were viewed as real heavyweights – one of the leading contenders to lift the famous trophy. The Italian giants had serious designs on a European title to burnish their domestic success, with wily tactician Fabio Capello having led them to a first Scudetto since 1983.

A 25-year old Francesco Totti was already well-established as the club’s totem, and a formidable defensive phalanx was superbly marshalled by centre-back Walter Samuel. The marauding Cafú was an ominous absentee for the Liverpool game, and Gabriel Batistuta had failed to hit the goalscoring heights of his debut season in Rome, but the Giallorossi still appeared in rude good health as they set their sights on a first-ever European Cup triumph.

The fervent anticipation and energy that gripped Anfield as the game drew nearer were palpable, but there was still time for one further development that would ramp the electricity to a whole different level. Gérard Houllier, the stricken Liverpool manager who had led the club to five trophies in the preceding 13 months, had not been seen on the touchline since being rushed to hospital during a game against Leeds United, five months earlier, with a suspected dissected aorta.

Rumours swirling around the ground prior to kick-off had suggested that Houllier might take his place in the dugout against Roma, and sure enough, the Frenchman emerged from the tunnel – slightly greyer and gaunter than before – to a bear hug from Capello and a thunderous reception from the Kop. It was, they hoped, the added impetus required to engineer a famous victory.

It was against this raucous backdrop that Liverpool surged out of the traps in a chaotic opening to the game, fizzing around the Italian champions and cueing pandemonium when Danny Murphy was felled by Damiano Tommasi to win a penalty after just six minutes. The oft-overlooked Litmanen displayed icy calm amidst the bedlam to nervelessly dispatch the spot-kick.

The Reds defence withstood Roma’s expected sting in the tail, holding Totti, Batistuta and Vincenzo Montella at bay, and Heskey sent the crowd into raptures with a bulleting header midway through the second half that left Francesco Antonioli with no chance. The 2-0 victory sent Liverpool through, and as they strode imperiously onwards to the quarter-finals, a sense of greatness was upon Houllier’s young team. “We can go to the final,” declared the Frenchman’s lieutenant, Phil Thompson. “There is that much confidence in this team and this squad. There is a belief that we can win the European Cup.”

The stirring triumph against one of the titans of the European game had seemed to suggest infinite possibility for Houllier’s Liverpool, and further evidence of the team’s relentless rise to the summit of the English and European games under the Frenchman. Yet few inside the stadium that night could have predicted that the win would mark Houllier’s last truly memorable European victory at the helm, with a spirited Bayer Leverkusen side sending the Reds crashing out of that year’s competition before a slow, inexorable decline afflicted the team in subsequent seasons.

Houllier would depart L4 little more than two years later, with that colossal victory over Roma serving as little more than a fond memory of his doomed tenure. As Klopp leads his thrilling Liverpool side into the white-hot furnace of Anfield, he’ll hope that another famous European victory over the Italian giants can act as a checkpoint on his team’s ascent to greatness, rather than the pinnacle it represented for Houllier’s team.