12 Jun 2019
Late Anfield goals give Roma glimmer of hope, whilst Bayern have it all to do in Madrid
As has often been the case this season, Liverpool had a Salah masterclass to thank for the comfortable win at home to Roma in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final clash. The Egyptian forward continued his prodigious form this season with two goals and two assists. The Reds were cruising to a historic 5-0 win before two goals in the final 10 minutes kept Roma alive in the tie.
In the other fixture, two away goals either side of half time have put Real Madrid firmly in the driving seat against Bayern Munich. Four goals scored at the weekend will give Heynckes’ side confidence heading into the return leg, and if they can somehow match Juventus’ 3-1 win in Madrid at the Quarter Final stage, they will advance to the Final. We’ve picked out one player from Roma and Bayern Munich respectively that will be crucial to their side’s chances of overturning a first-leg deficit.
Edin Dzeko
If anyone can overturn a three-goal deficit in Europe, Roma have shown they don’t know when they are beaten. The Italian outfit stunned comeback kings Barcelona in coming back from a 4-1 first leg deficit to progress to the semi-final stage. It was Edin Dzeko who scored the first of three unanswered goals that night in Rome, and the 32-year-old has the clinical finishing to do it all again against Liverpool. Dzeko found the net twice in the league at the weekend, and at 5/1 in the Champions League betting odds – backing the Bosnian forward to score two or more against Liverpool offers good value. They couldn’t do it again, could they?
Robert Lewandowski
Needing to score at least two goals in Madrid to progress to the final, Bayern Munich will be leaning on their big-game players to put in the big performance required. Talisman Robert Lewandowski will certainly be one of those. The Polish striker has netted 39 times already this season, and has previous against Madrid. Whilst still playing for Borussia Dortmund, Lewandowski humbled Los Blancos at the same stage of the competition back in 2013 when he scored all four goals in the first leg. Lewandowski to score first at 7/2 is well worth a shout. Just like Roma, Bayern are no strangers to finding a way to progress after finding themselves with it all to do after the first leg. In 2015, Bayern needed a 2-0 win to advance to the next round (just as is the case this week) against Porto. Five first half goals in a dominant 6-1 performance secured a 7-4 aggregate win. Lewandowski scored twice that night…
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