Liverpool have drawn Roma in the semi-finals of this season’s Champions League while Real Madrid will face German champions Bayern Munich in the other semi-final.
The Reds advanced to the last four after a 5-1 aggregate win over Manchester City in the quarter-finals while Roma stunned La Liga leaders Barcelona with a 3-0 win at the Stadio Olimpico to win on away goals.
The victory for Jurgen Klopp’s side booked Liverpool their first semi-final appearance in the Champions League since their 2008 defeat to Chelsea but Klopp insisted that his side deserve to be in the competition’s penultimate stage this season.
The official result of the #UCLdraw!@FCBayern v @realmadrid @LFC v @OfficialASRoma
🏆 Who will reach the final in Kyiv? pic.twitter.com/fHyjIPresp
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 13, 2018
“Barcelona, Bayern, Real Madrid, they win everything in the last 20 years,” Klopp told the club’s website after the quarter-final win over City.
“In the same time we pretty much didn’t win anything as a club. You will not become a winner overnight – it happens from time to time, but it’s never really on a basis, it’s a coincidence and a little bit of luck.
“We only can develop. This league is unbelievably strong, this competition is unbelievably strong. You cannot imagine how much intensity you feel before a game like this.
Who will win the 2018 UEFA Champions League?#UCL
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 11, 2018
“Everybody wrote me a message – ‘I will watch the game here, I will watch the game there, I will have a beer together with friends…’ I would really like to do that as well, to drink a beer and watch a Champions League game.
“Unfortunately, it is always work. It’s all good but it’s not that you can enjoy it completely, but I don’t care who is in [the competition]. We are here and we deserved it, and I am really happy about that.
“So far, we fought for each opportunity to get it – and then to use it is so hard. But that’s what we will do. The other teams will have their targets as well when we meet them in the semis; I think they are not without ambitions.”
Meanwhile Bayern held Sevilla to a 0-0 draw to win their quarter-final tie 2-1 on aggregate while a late Cristiano Ronaldo penalty booked Madrid a spot in the semi-finals for the eighth consecutive season as the defending champions disposed of Juventus in dramatic circumstances at the Bernabeu.
