The first leg of Liverpool Roma lived up to the billing. After a cagey first half hour where Roma had the better chances, Mo Salah took over. His goal in the 35th minute sparked a Liverpool blitzkrieg.
It's getting silly, folks.
Mo Salah AGAIN. His 43rd goal in all competitions this season. pic.twitter.com/ng4fkRt5Ol— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) April 24, 2018
The atmosphere outside Anfield is full of smoke, fire and exactly what you'd expect from Liverpool fans. Before the first leg of the Champions League semifinal between Roma and Liverpool, at least this time around Liverpool fans have allowed the opposing players to enter the stadium without incurring significant safety risks. At least off the field.
The scenes outside Anfield looked like B roll footage from a post-apocalyptic Michael Bay movie.
Mo Salah is on another planet. After a tense first half hour of the match in which Roma had the game's best chances, Liverpool began to threaten with attacks over the top. After a few Sadio Mane missed chances, the PFA Player of the Year stepped up in a big way. Two vintage Mo Salah goals have spotted the Reds with a significant advantage at the half.
In the past 10 years, there have been more U.S. presidents than Ballon d'Or winners. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have enjoyed a duopoly over the award, with five Ballon d'Ors each since Kaka won in 2007. The Mo Salah Ballon d'Or campagin could change that.
On the day before Liverpool and Roma face off at Anfield in the Champions League semifinals, Roma goalkeeper Alisson was linked (again) with Liverpool. This was, presumably, much to the chagrin of Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius, who just recently won the starting job from Simon Mignolet and has been playing very well as of late.
The real question is how these two opponents and potential rivals for Liverpool's starting job stack up head to head.
So let's go through some of the main stats, shall we?
When we think of Barcelona, we think of the way they play and some of the greats that have donned the blue and red stripes — Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho and Johan Cruyff. But what you didn’t know was that once upon a time, Barça was a team full of savages and psychopaths (including Cruyff). Don’t believe me? I don’t blame you, but take a look at this video showing the European Cup (as it was known before it became the Champions League) semifinal match between Barcelona and Leeds United in 1975.