Champions League Review: Salah stuns Roma, whilst Bayern and Madrid lack quality

Mohamed Salah produced yet another top-class performance to put Liverpool into a commanding position against Roma. The Italians now need to replicate their display versus Barcelona and score three without reply following Liverpool’s emphatic 5-2 victory at Anfield.

Before the game Salah embraced every single Roma player in the tunnel, it was almost as if he was apologising for what he was about to do next. Liverpool were outstanding in attack, although it did take them a little while to find their rhythm.

Injury to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain after 15 minutes didn’t help matters and then consecutive errors from Loris Karius and Dejan Lovren could have made matters worse. Aleksandar Kolarov struck a shot from distance which Karius unconvincingly lost in flight, but his slight touch was just enough to change its trajectory as it rebounded off the crossbar, then three minutes later Lovren’s swipe at Cengiz Under had the potential to have been costly against a more astute opponent.

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Juan Jesus’ late challenge on Sadio Mane saw the Brazilian receive the first booking of the game, but it proved to be key as he could longer provide the same physical intensity that he showed against Salah in the early stages. Mane blazed over the bar with the upright glaring, then 49 seconds later he missed another golden opportunity when he couldn’t wrap his foot around far enough, however, it had awoken the threat of Liverpool’s front three.

BT commentator Glen Hoddle felt that Mane had lost his confidence and should switch wings with Salah, it’s lucky that Jurgen Klopp wasn’t listening. The Senegalese attacker put the ball in the net from an Andy Robertson cross, although the linesman had fixed his earlier problems with the flag to give offside.

Moments later, Salah picked up the ball and turned inside before unleashing an unstoppable shot into the net off the underside of the bar. Salah immediately bowed his head in respect of his former employers, as the rest of his Liverpool teammates and supporters went wild, he stood motionless with his fingers pointing towards the sky.

Lovren then headed off the bar from a corner, as the Reds had nine shots in a 15-minute period. Virgil van Dijk’s clearance fell to Salah and his brilliant first touch allowed him to give it to Roberto Firmino.

The former Hoffenheim striker’s perfectly weighted pass ensured that the amazing forward was through on goal, the trademark dink transpired to make it 2-0 before the break and a repeat no-celebration. Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush could be seen getting overly excited by the strike, whilst Salah was the calm figure in the middle of the bedlam that had made everyone believe.

“Running out of words,” commented Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard at half-time in an attempt to assess Salah’s night. “Those hands placed together asking for forgiveness will not make the goals any less bitter,” wrote Matteo Pinci in Italian newspaper La Repubblica the next day.

Roma’s ridiculously high line proved problematic again in the second half, when Salah was released down the right once more. He probably could have taken the shot on himself to complete his hat-trick, but he selflessly opted to square it for Mane who connected to get the third.

On the hour mark, Salah found himself in more space on the flank, as he dropped the shoulder and left Juan Jesus standing before putting it on a plate for Firmino to tap-in. James Milner’s corner saw Firmino head in the fifth and Klopp’s men already looked out of sight.

However, Edin Dzeko gave Roma a glimmer of hope when he scored an away goal with 10 minutes left, with Lovren culpable. That feeling intensified when Milner was harshly adjudged to have handled the ball and Diego Perotti converted the resulting penalty.

“For a long time, it was the perfect performance, 80 minutes or so,” said Klopp after the game. “We are Liverpool – it’s all-inclusive football.”

Mistakes and injuries dictate rather than class

The most contested game in the history of the competition failed to produce the same levels of quality that we have come to expect, but that won’t deter Real Madrid. Zinedine Zidane’s team won 2-1 at the Allianz Arena, even though they lacked fluency for large spells of the match.

An early injury to Arjen Robben saw Thiago Alcantara introduced and Thomas Muller was moved further forward. Bayern Munich lost their second player of the first 45 minutes, when Jerome Boateng had to leave the field to be replaced by Nicolas Sule.

After a cagey start in the opening 25 minutes, Joshua Kimmich was released behind the Madrid defence by James Rodriguez. The right-back looked across the box for an available option, but simply took on the shot which beat Keylor Navas far too easily.

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Navas began to make strange choices and looked surprisingly nervous following his error, with Franck Ribery letting the goalkeeper off when his poor first touch allowed Navas to gather. Mats Hummels missed a good opportunity after Robert Lewandowski flicked on from a corner and then Muller’s volley was blocked by Sergio Ramos.

Bayern created opportunities, but they weren’t clinical enough, which ultimately proved costly. Madrid were happy to contain and play on the counter attack, with Lucas Vazquez a surprise addition on the left, as they opted for a five-man midfield with Cristiano Ronaldo the solitary forward.

It’s the eighth successive year that Madrid have reached the last four in the Champions League and that experience is invaluable. Marcelo’s sublime strike meant that Madrid were level at the break, despite the fact they had been extremely disorganised and ineffective.

“Real Madrid are like an old boxer – on the ropes, rolling with the punches and staying in the game,” said Rio Ferdinand in the interval. Rafinha’s shocking pass at the back was seized upon by substitute Marco Asensio after the restart and his one-two with Vazquez allowed him to beat Sven Ulreich.

Ronaldo beat Ulreich for a third time, but the goal was rightfully disallowed for handball in the build-up. The game opened up in the closing stages, but both teams will expect to produce better at the Bernabeu next Tuesday.