Liverpool vs Roma
Normally, Roma would have an advantage being propelled by the thrill and excitement of coming off of one of their biggest wins in club history.
However, their opponents are also coming off of a massive victory of their own. While Roma squeaked by Barcelona, Liverpool outclassed Man City, beating them 5-1 on aggregate.
Now, I don’t mean to downplay Roma’s accomplishment – what they did was incredible – but Roma’s defense now faces arguably its toughest test of the season.
Shutting down Messi and Suarez in the second leg was huge, but Barcelona were playing like they had already advanced, and they ended up paying the price for it.
Liverpool did the opposite. They went into the Ethihad with a 3-0 advantage and still played their hearts out for 90 minutes, resulting in an emphatic victory over the soon-to-be English Champions.
Now Roma has the task of stopping a Liverpool front three that has scored a combined 23 goals in the Champions League so far – Barcelona as a whole finished the competition with just 16, for comparison. Roma can’t possibly do this again, can they?
Prediction: Liverpool 5-2 Roma