Georginio Wijnaldum said Liverpool are “not scared, but aware of Roma’s quality” ahead of the Champions League semi-final.
The first leg ended 5-2 at Anfield, meaning the Giallorossi need a 3-0 home victory to reach the Final, but that’s the exact same situation they were in when overturning Barcelona in the quarter-final.
“After the game, of course people were disappointed because we conceded two goals, but we won 5-2, so were happy,” said midfielder Wijnaldum in the Press conference.
Georginio Wijnaldum said Liverpool are “not scared, but aware of Roma’s quality” ahead of the Champions League semi-final.
The first leg ended 5-2 at Anfield, meaning the Giallorossi need a 3-0 home victory to reach the Final, but that’s the exact same situation they were in when overturning Barcelona in the quarter-final.
“After the game, of course people were disappointed because we conceded two goals, but we won 5-2, so were happy,” said midfielder Wijnaldum in the Press conference.
“As the manager said, if we’d been told before that we’d get a 5-2 win over Roma, we’d be happy. I think we dominated the game, were the better team and deserved the victory.
“We don’t have one foot in the final, you can only go with two feet in the final. Strange things happened before in the Champions League, Roma already showed they can turn things around against Barcelona and we already showed we can control a lead against Manchester City.
“We have two teams who have confidence, one of turning things around, one of keeping the lead. It’s going to be an interesting game. We are not scared, but we are aware of their quality.”
Wijnaldum was asked how the attack on Liverpool supporter Sean Cox had affected the team and if he had advice for the travelling fans in Rome?
“Sing as much as you can, as loud as you can and support us. It’s good that they travelled to Rome to support us, I hope they will sing loud.
“To be fair, we didn’t know what had happened until the day after. Of course, it’s not a nice feeling to know someone has been injured. We were devastated, but you have to think about so much more than that and we have to go on.
“Of course, we felt it, as it’s a game and everyone has to enjoy it. Everyone has to be safe and it’s not a good thing that this happened.
“It’s not good to use those things to motivate you, as in a Champions League semi-final we are already motivated. It’d mean a lot for the supporters, for the club and the team.”
Wijnaldum is friends with fellow Dutch international Kevin Strootman, so have they talked?
“We spoke after the game… about the game… I haven’t spoken to him since then, though. Salah said it was going to be difficult, that’s all he said. We should have confidence in our style of playing, but he said it’ll be difficult as they have really good supporters and after Barcelona, everyone believes they can get a result here and will give 100 per cent.”
Over the years, Wijnaldum has often been linked with a move to Roma.
“It’s true, we spoke a few times, but in the end I chose another club.”