No way. This time the feat didn't succeed and Roma, in addition to the mocking applause, remained bitter in the mouth for a final that was only touched and now to be watched in front of the TV. Real Madrid and Liverpool will be in Kiev on 26 May and this time can never be said to be undeserved.
Of course, Klopp's Reds played a great competition but it would have been nice to see how it would have ended with the Var, both in the first leg and in the second leg. And given that the argument is even more true for the match between Real and Bayern, a big question remains: why does UEFA continue to postpone the introduction of technology?
“Without the referees' mistakes everything would have changed – thundered Monchi – At Anfield we conceded an offside goal, here they didn't give us two sensational penalties and in one there would even have been a sending-off. It's time to raise your voice, Italian football must do it: what happened is truly sensational".
Strong words, which were followed by those of Pallotta ("VAR is indispensable in the Champions League, otherwise they make a fool of themselves and end up in the ridiculous") and which arrive just 24 hours after the match at the Bernabeu, in which Bayern saw denying at least two penalties, one even admitted by Marcelo.
Roma foamed with anger over two decisions that could have changed everything (the second penalty, a shot by El Shaarawy literally saved by Alexander-Arnold, would have left Liverpool in 10 for half an hour) but must also question their mistakes.
In fact, of the 7 goals conceded in two games by the Reds, at least 5 were very avoidable, and then the question remains as to what happened at Anfield, where Di Francesco's team danced as if it were a theater company. Yesterday's second half, which started 2-1 for Klopp's men (goals from Mané in the 9th minute and Wijnaldum in the 26th minute, Milner's own goal in the middle in the 15th minute), showed that qualification was all anything but impossible and that the British could be beaten, as well as "managed" much better.
But 45' of anger and pride that produced three goals (52' Dzeko, 86' and 94' Nainggolan) weren't enough to complete what, to all intents and purposes, would have become an absurd comeback, almost from another era, and all that remains for Rome is the applause of its audience, as well as of the whole of Europe. Much compared to expectations at the start of the season, definitely not much considering the final in Kiev.
The one that Real Madrid and Liverpool will play on Saturday 26 May. To the delight of millions of fans all over the world and of UEFA, happy to be able to count on historic, famous, powerful teams. Italy? For now, it is stuck at Andrea Agnelli's outburst and his invitation to use technology in Europe too, as soon as possible. And given how things went, it doesn't seem that we have taken the hypothesis into consideration in Nyon…
