Liverpool Survives Roma Late Rally To Set Up Real Madrid UCL Final

Liverpool survived a Roma late rally Wednesday in the Stadio Olimpico to book its first UEFA Champions League final in over a decade.

The Reds came into the game with a 5-2 advantage and only needed to ensure that Roma did not score an unreplied three goals to book their place in the Kiev final against Real Madrid. And they got off to a dream start in the ninth minute when Sadio Mane pounced on a misplaced pass to put his side ahead.

That early goal meant that Roma had to score four goals to sail through. It looked impossible, but the Romans had the belief and took the fight to their adversaries.

Roma equalized when James Milner scored a bizarre own goal, but Georginio Wijnaldum restored the advantage with a header.

Edin Dzeko equalized for Roma early in the second half and Radja Nainggolan scored two late goals for the host as the Giallorossi narrowly missed out on another miracle after its stunning 3-0 second-leg victory over Barcelona in the quarterfinals.

In the May 26 final in Kiev, Ukraine, Liverpool will face two-time defending champion Real Madrid, who beat Bayern Munich 4-3 on aggregate in the other semifinal.

Liverpool last reached the final in 2007, when it lost to AC Milan, having won the last of its five titles over Milan two years earlier.