Football – Champions League | Madrid hopes to avoid semis setback at home

Wednesday, 2:45am
Real Madrid v Bayern Munich
H 2.17, D 4.15, A 3.3

Despite a 2-1 victory at Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals, Real Madrid is worried.

Madrid hosts Bayern in the second leg today [Wednesday, 2:45am], but the European champions have struggled in decisive matches at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium and are wary of more surprises.

“We have to think about the good things that we did in the first leg in Munich and learn from the match against Juventus at home,” said backup Madrid goalkeeper Kiko Casilla, referring to the 3-1 loss in the quarterfinals. “If we put all that together and stay focused, we can make history by reaching another final.”

Against Juventus, Madrid won 3-0 in Italy in the first leg. There was a festive atmosphere for the second leg, which was supposed to be a mere formality.

But Madrid was surprised by Juventus from the start, quickly squandering its advantage by conceding twice in the first half and once after halftime. The 12-time champions only escaped an embarrassing home elimination thanks to a controversial late penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo.

“We need our fans cheering us on just like they did against Juventus,” Casilla said. “We are going to need them. Champions League nights at the Bernabeu are special.”

Madrid also relinquished its lead against Bayern in the quarterfinals last season, when it also won 2-1 in Munich in the first leg.

A week later, Bayern sent the match into extra time. Ronaldo, who got both goals in the first leg and one in regulation in the second, scored twice in extra time to complete a hat trick and save Madrid from elimination.

“I don’t know how significant the first-leg advantage will be. We know what happened against Juventus and against Bayern last year,” Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said. “We will need a huge performance. We will need to play like never before this year to be able to advance. We are prepared and we are going to give it all we’ve got to make it to the final.”

Sloppy defense was key for Madrid’s home struggles both against Juventus and against Bayern last year. Madrid didn’t play poorly but couldn’t stop its opponents on the few chances they created. Against Juventus, all three goals came when the Madrid defense failed to clear routine crosses into the area.

Bayern remembers last year’s match well.

“I think they were floundering for every cross and for every long ball, so we know what we have to do,” Bayern striker Sandro Wagner said.

The defense could be a problem for Madrid again today as right back Dani Carvajal is out injured and Zidane has few options to replace him. Youngster Achraf Hakimi is Carvajal’s immediate substitute but he has not impressed this season.

Nacho Fernandez, a central defender who has played at right back on other occasions, is coming off an injury and it’s not clear if he will be available to play.

Zidane said he may consider using forward Lucas Vazquez in defense, as he did after Carvajal had to leave the first leg because of his injury.

Madrid is trying to win a third straight European title, and fourth in five seasons. Bayern, a five-time European champion, is looking to return to the final after four seasons. Tales Azzoni, Madrid, AP

‘I believe’ is Roma’s slogan vs. Liverpool in CL semifinal

Thursday, 2:45am
Roma v Liverpool
H 2.6, D 4.05, A 2.62

Roma already erased a three-goal deficit once in this season’s Champions League.

The Giallorossi believe they can do it again against Liverpool tomorrow [Thursday, 2:45].

“We’ve already shown we’re capable of coming back and we should have the belief that we can do it again,” Roma coach Eusebio Di Francesco said.

Liverpool won the first leg 5-2, so Roma needs a repeat of its 3-0 second-leg victory over Barcelona in the quarterfinals to reach next month’s final in Kiev.

A 4-1 win — Roma’s result against Chievo Verona on Saturday — would also suffice.

“I believe. That’s my slogan and that’s what I want to transmit to my players,” Di Francesco added.

However, Roma will have to find a way to stop its former striker, Mohamed Salah, who scored the opening two goals of the first leg.

Security will also be a concern following clashes at the first leg that left a Liverpool fan in critical condition.

Italian state police said “special attention” will be paid to the arrival and movements of 5,000 Liverpool supporters in the capital.

Tomorrow’s game is a rematch of the 1984 European Cup final that Liverpool won in a penalty shootout in Roma’s stadium.

Liverpool should have its devastating front three intact for the second leg, with coach Juergen Klopp saying Sadio Mane will be fit after a minor thigh injury.

Mane, who missed the 0-0 draw with Stoke in the Premier League on Saturday, will link up again with Salah and Roberto Firmino — reuniting the players who scored all of Liverpool’s goals in the first leg. They have scored 28 goals between them in this season’s Champions League, more than any other team in the competition.

Klopp does have issues in midfield, though, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain out for the rest of the season after sustaining a serious knee problem in the first leg to join fellow midfielders Adam Lallana and Emre Can on the injury list. Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Georginio Wijnaldum are Klopp’s only fit senior midfielders.

Liverpool, a five-time European champion, has proved to be the master of the counterattack domestically and in the Champions League this season, so is the last team that Roma will want to be gung- ho against. The Reds did, though, squander a three-goal cushion against Sevilla in the group stage to draw 3-3. AP