Three things we learned: AS Roma 4-2 Liverpool

Liverpool progressed to their first Champions League final since 2007 despite succumbing to a 4-2 defeat to AS Roma on Wednesday night. The Merseyside outfit had already secured a 5-2 advantage from the first leg of their semi-final and this eventually pulled them through by a 7-6 aggregate scoreline.

Three things we learned:
Liverpool get a shot at another final: Since the Champions League triumph in 2005, Liverpool have struggled to make much of an impression in finals, barring the 2012 League Cup where they beat Cardiff City on penalties. By ousting Roma, Liverpool have now reached their third final under the tutelage of Jurgen Klopp and the German will be hoping for a better performance. Real Madrid are unquestionably the outright favourites for the final in Kyiv and Klopp needs to sort out the club’s backline, which conceded six times against the Giallorossi.
AS Roma unlucky with refereeing decisions: The Giallorossi needed a huge performance to overturn the tie and they could have at least taken the game to extra-time, had a couple of refereeing decisions gone their way. Roma striker Edin Dzeko was blatantly fouled in the box by goalkeeper Loris Karius in the second half but the Reds survived after the assistant referee wrongly judging him to be offside. Shortly after, Stephan El Shaarawy’s effort on goal was deflected over by Trent Alexander-Arnold’s hand but surprisingly no Roma player asked for a penalty.
Liverpool need to find a quick defensive fix: Despite their progress to the Champions League final, Liverpool’s defensive display was far from impressive with six goals conceded. The Merseyside outfit looked particularly weak on the right side of the defence where Alexander-Arnold was stationed and the teenager needs to find a better positional sense ahead of the Kyiv final. Alexander-Arnold has been found out against fast-paced attackers in the form of Wilfried Saha and Marcus Rashford this term and he could have a difficult night against the likes of Ronaldo, Asensio or Bale, unless he manages to balance the offensive and defensive side of his game.