Sunday, May 6
 

Premier League

May 2, 2018 at 7.45pm UK
Roma
4-2
Liverpool
Milner (15' og.), Dzeko (52'), Nainggolan (86', 90' pen.)
Florenzi (76'), Manolas (84')
FT(HT: 1-2)
Mane (9'), Wijnaldum (25')
Lovren (44'), Robertson (84'), Solanke (90')

Eusebio Di Francesco: 'Liverpool tougher to overcome than Barcelona'

Eusebio Di Francesco is confident that Roma can overturn their three-goal deficit against Liverpool, but says it will be even tougher than overcoming Barcelona.

Eusebio Di Francesco has urged his Roma players to "raise the bar against Liverpool" as they attempt to pull off another Champions League miracle on home soil.

A month on from producing one of the greatest comebacks in the competition's history, coming from three goals down to beat Barcelona 4-4 on away goals, the Giallorossi must do it all over again.

Liverpool take a 5-2 advantage into Wednesday night's semi-final second leg at the Stadio Olimpico, where Roma have yet to concede in Europe this term, and Di Francesco is confident that another upset is on the cards with an improved performance from his players.

"In terms of the Barcelona match, I would do a copy and paste like you would on Microsoft Word word but in the minds of the player and physically, in order to compete against Liverpool, we need to raise the bar against Liverpool with physical effort," he told reporters on the eve of the match. "Then comes attitude, approach to the game and the fact we need to try and score an early goal and to have the fans behind us even more.

"From a motivational point of view, we have the desire to complete this comeback and put everything on the pitch and try and do something great and massive. If you want to score goals you cannot sit back. You cannot drop deep. We have to accept the risk of conceding on the counter attack but we have to try and limit it as much as possible. We need to score three goals. We need to make something clear.

"We are about to play a Champions League semi-final semi-final in front of 70,000. What, you expect us to sit back? We expect a fighting team a team who can put everything on the pitch. I expect this to happen. We made something special against Barcelona. It is a massive achievement for the club but I don't like to settle and be complacent. We have to try and to do our best.

"Our ambition is to go to Kiev and we must believe we can make it. However, I am trying to prepare for this match like any other match. I am very satisfied with what we have done so far but we need to raise the bar even more. I will try to make the players aware that we can make something big."

Liverpool have scored more goals than any other side in this season's Champions League, racking up 38 in all.

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Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CManchester CityMan City363042102267694
2Manchester UnitedMan Utd36245767283977
3Liverpool372012580384272
4Tottenham HotspurSpurs36218768323671
5Chelsea36216961342769
6Arsenal361861272482460
7Burnley371412113537-254
8Everton371310144355-1249
9Leicester CityLeicester361111144954-544
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle36118173646-1041
11Crystal Palace371011164355-1241
12Bournemouth371011164360-1741
13Watford37118184463-1941
14Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton36913143347-1440
15West Ham UnitedWest Ham36911164567-2238
16Huddersfield TownHuddersfield3699182756-2936
17Southampton36615153655-1933
18Swansea CitySwansea3689192753-2633
19West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom37613183154-2331
RStoke CityStoke37612193367-3430
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Transfer Talk Daily
Match previews - twice weekly
Morning Briefing (7am UTC)
Get the latest transfer news, match previews and news direct to your inbox!
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CManchester CityMan City363042102267694
2Manchester UnitedMan Utd36245767283977
3Liverpool372012580384272
4Tottenham HotspurSpurs36218768323671
5Chelsea36216961342769
6Arsenal361861272482460
7Burnley371412113537-254
8Everton371310144355-1249
9Leicester CityLeicester361111144954-544
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle36118173646-1041
11Crystal Palace371011164355-1241
12Bournemouth371011164360-1741
13Watford37118184463-1941
14Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton36913143347-1440
15West Ham UnitedWest Ham36911164567-2238
16Huddersfield TownHuddersfield3699182756-2936
17Southampton36615153655-1933
18Swansea CitySwansea3689192753-2633
19West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom37613183154-2331
RStoke CityStoke37612193367-3430
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