Champions League: Mo Salah’s Rome reunion scheduled for semifinals
By Orri Benatar
The semifinal matches are set for the UEFA Champions League. Liverpool will take on Roma, Real Madrid to face Bayern Munich.
This morning’s Champions League draw gave a very favorable match to Mohamed Salah and Liverpool. The star striker will make his return to his former club AS Roma in the two legs. Liverpool and Roma have played five competitive matches against each other previously. The two sides have recently played exhibition matches in the United States over the past couple of summers for the International Champions Cup.
Roma is the weakest team on paper, but definitely not the easiest to beat. The Reds attack is potent and can cause serious problems for a notoriously slower Roma defense. The midfield battle will determine who packs their bags to Kyiv. Daniele De Rossi and Alessandro Florezni strength in the middle will pose a challenge for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner.
Salah’s reunion will be something special as these two sides are the most surprising teams remaining in this Champions League. The matches will be fierce and could be very high scoring. I expect two good games and the Reds to make the final.
Leg 1 – April 24th – 2:45pm EST – Anfield
Leg 2 – May 2nd – 2:45pm EST – Stadio Olimpico
Mohamed Salah’s levelled up since joining Liverpool 🔥 pic.twitter.com/IlA8VbHgER
— B/R Football (@brfootball) April 13, 2018
Bayern Munich should be happy with drawing Real Madrid. They match-up well against them. Robert Lewandowski can have a field day against the Madrid backline and with the first leg being in Munich, Bayern can get a much-needed head start against Los Blancos.
Cristiano Ronaldo will be on call again against Bayern Munich. Real Madrid and Bayern Munich is now the most played Champions League matchup of all time. It will be the 25th and 26th times the two teams meet. Last year, they faced off in the quarterfinals where Ronaldo’s hat-trick sent Los Blancos to the semifinals after extra time. Ronaldo has scored nine times in six games against the Bavarians.
Next: UCL - Power Rankings of semifinal teams
As usual, it will be a toss-up between these two. I believe it comes down to the first leg. If Lewandowski and James Rodriguez can penetrate Madrid’s defense in Munich, Bayern could have it sealed when they go to the Bernabeu. Three or four goals for Bayern in the first leg might be enough to make the final. I still think Cristiano Ronaldo is too much. Real Madrid to the final to face Liverpool.