5 Liverpool matches which should serve as a warning to Real Madrid

#2 AS Roma 4-2 Liverpool

Mane opened the scoring in Rome

Context - Liverpool had one foot in the Champions League final with another attacking blitz in the first leg at Anfield. The Reds brought a 3-goal lead to Italy, courtesy of a 5-2 win in the first leg. However, AS Roma believed they still had a chance, especially considering they scored three without reply against Barcelona in the previous round to draw the tie 4-4 and go through on away goals.

Further, the Italian side did not concede a single goal in this season's tournament, shutting out the likes of Chelsea and Atletico Madrid along with Barcelona. Also, defending leads was still not a Liverpool hallmark, making the situation far from over. Thus, the Reds needed to score to prevent an upset.

(Video courtesy - ho quang thang YouTube Channel)

Result - While both teams started well, Liverpool showed no signs of nerves as they went about their business. Firmino set up Mane to open the scoring before an unfortunate own goal via James Milner's face brought Roma level. Gini Wijnaldum finally scored away from home in such a big match to put a mountain of a task in front of Roma.

Edin Dzeko scored in the 52nd minute for Roma before a late double from Radja Nainggolan in the final minutes brought the aggregate score to 7-6 in favour of Liverpool. However, the Reds saw off the remaining minutes of injury time to seal their progress to the final.

While the Reds were inflicted their first loss of their European campaign, the circumstances need to be considered. This season's tournament has seen the losing team throw everything in the second leg, making any lead look surmountable. Also, a few refereeing decisions were questionable and they could have seen the tie go either way.

However, the important part is the way Liverpool started the game assertively and held on as the tiredness due to playing every 3 days for a month finally started to hurt them. Top teams always find a way to get the right result no matter what and Liverpool did the same on that day, a trait Zidane's team exhibit more than anyone on the continent.