Tuesdays Champions League

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Man City 1-2 Liverpool: Reds make semi-finals with goals from Salah and Firmino (April 10 2018)

Liverpool moved into the semi-finals of the Champions League as they came from behind to beat Manchester City 2-1 at the Etihad, and 5-1 on aggregate.

Although the eventual scoreline was comfortable, it was anything but that for the Reds as Gabriel Jesus gave City a second-minute lead in a dominant first half.

The key moment came just before half time when Leroy Sane had a goal wrongly ruled out for half time, before Pep Guardiola was sent to the stands for his protests to referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz.

Liverpool had rode their luck in the first half but emerged a different side after the break and secured the vital away goal through Mohamed Salah 11 minutes into the second half.

That effectively ended the game, but Roberto Firmino bagged his ninth European goal of the season to actually win the game for Jurgen Klopp’s men as they marched into the last four.

It was the best start possible for City as they opened the scoring inside two minutes as they profited from playing Liverpool at their own pressing game.

Virgil van Dijk was weak in possession and stopped playing when appealing for a non-existent free kick against Sterling, who then got into the space he’d vacated before squaring for Jesus to finish expertly.

From there it was another 43 minutes of almost total dominance from the home side who sent wave after wave of attacks on a nervous looking Liverpool who struggled to string two passes together.

Only half chances were created though until Bernardo Silva rattled the post on 40 minutes after cutting in from the right and firing left-footed.

The a second goal then should have come three minutes before the break when Sane bundled the ball in after a weak Karius punch rebounded off James Milner towards his own goal, only for the officials to wrongly rule it out for offside.

Guardiola was furious with Spanish referee Antonio Mateu as the teams left the pitch at the break, but his protests overstepped the mark in the official’s eyes as he was sent to the stands for the second half.

The City boss then had an elevated view as Liverpool struck back 11 minutes after the break when Mane muscled his way in behind and, after Ederson’s challenge halted his progress, Salah picked up the ball and chipped into the far corner.

A vital away goal shook City, who now needed to score five to go through, and Guardiola sent on Sergio Aguero to try and engineer an even more remarkable comeback.

However, any feint hope they had was extinguished on 77 minute when a Nicolas Otamendi mistake led to Firmino getting in down the left and he slid the ball into the far corner to finish the job.

Liverpool now go into the hat for the semi-final draw on Friday.
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Pep Guardiola felt Manchester City were on the wrong end of some poor refereeing decisions.

The City manager was sent to the stands for protesting to referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz.

"I said he was wrong," said Guardiola when asked about his dismissal. "I didn't insult him. I just said it was a penalty and it was a goal.

"The ball (for Sane) came from (James) Milner. He said, 'From Milner it came?'. 'Yes, from Milner'.

"When it comes from Milner it is not offside, and we go to half-time 2-0. Two-nil against that team is a little bit different.

"In these kind of games, in these competitions, the impact is so big. At Anfield the first goal from (Mohamed) Salah is offside. The goal from Gabriel Jesus in Anfield was a goal, not offside."

Guardiola has had his run-ins with Lahoz before. The Spanish official angered Guardiola by not giving City a penalty a last-16 clash last season and he also gave Napoli two penalties at the Etihad Stadium earlier in this campaign.

"I know him from Spain," Guardiola said. "I could imagine that."

Liverpool midfielder James Milner admitted his side had to hang tough in the first half after City started so well and got the early goal.

Milner told BT Sport: "They are a good team, they always put you under pressure. They had chances but that shows a lot how we came out in the second half."

Salah added: "They were were pressing very high in the beginning.

"We came back, we played hard and we got the result, that is the most important thing.

"Everyone gave 100 per cent and we are happy about that."

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Roma 3-0 Barcelona: LaLiga leaders knocked out of Champions League (April 10 2018)

Roma secured a dramatic 3-0 victory over Barcelona at the Stadio Olimpico to book their place in the Champions League semi-finals on away goals after a 4-4 aggregate result.

Trailing 4-1 after the first leg, Roma went ahead on the night after six minutes as Edin Dzeko latched on to Daniele de Rossi's long-range pass before poking the ball beyond Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

De Rossi doubled their lead from the penalty spot after Dzeko had been brought down in the box early in the second half and Kostas Manolas headed in late on to clinch Roma's spot in the final four.

Barcelona were on the front foot in the opening exchanges, with Sergi Roberto and Lionel Messi both having chances in the first four minutes.

But it was Roma who broke the deadlock after six minutes when De Rossi's pin-point pass was met in the box by Dzeko, who got the ball under his spell with a brilliant first touch before prodding past Ter Stegen from six yards.

Barca had an opportunity to hit back less than two minutes later after Juan Jesus tripped the on-rushing Messi 25 yards from goal but the Argentina forward missed the target with the subsequent free-kick.

Roma had a spring in their step and were attacking in numbers as they looked for a quickfire second.

Patrik Schick headed Aleksandar Kolarov's corner well wide in the 14th minute before Radja Nainggolan shot wide from range as a vociferous home crowd urged their team forward.

Dzeko cleared the bar with his long-range effort in the 25th minute, while it took a well-timed challenge from Gerard Pique to prevent Kolarov from getting a shot away in the box a minute later.

Barcelona looked rattled as Roma pressed with high intensity and threw everything at them when in possession.

Schick nodded Alessandro Florenzi's searching cross wide from the middle of the area in the 28th minute, while Ter Stegen was forced to tip over Dzeko's close-range header eight minutes later.

The visitors won another free-kick from shooting range in the 38th minute as Luis Suarez was brought down but once again Messi could not find the target from 25 yards.

Roma began the second half as they had finished the first - in complete control - and were awarded a penalty in the 56th minute when Pique fouled Dzeko in the area.

Captain De Rossi hit the ball beyond Ter Stegen to double Roma's advantage and the home side were not finished there.

Ter Stegen was called into action once again in the 68th minute to keep Nainggolan at bay before Messi sent his 20-yard shot straight at Alisson six minutes later.

After substitute Stephan El Shaarawy had been denied by a last-ditch save by Ter Stegen at the back post in the 79th minute, Manolas nodded Cengiz Under's cross past the German to make it 4-4 on aggregate with eight minutes left to play.

Barcelona threw the kitchen sink at Roma late on but with Messi and Ousmane Dembele unable to convert their chances, Roma held on to complete their unlikely comeback win.