Henderson: Let's finish the job in Rome
Jordan Henderson has confidence that Liverpool can ‘finish the job’ and reach the Champions League final next week following Tuesday’s thrilling 5-2 win over AS Roma.
Mohamed Salah’s brilliant brace before the break, followed by a Sadio Mane goal and a Roberto Firmino double after half-time, put the Reds in command of their semi-final first leg at Anfield.
Late strikes from Edin Dzeko and Diego Perotti changed the complexion of the tie somewhat ahead of next Wednesday’s second meeting at Stadio Olimpico, though.
However, while acknowledging the difficulties Jürgen Klopp’s team will face in the Italian capital, Henderson feels they are in a strong position to seal a spot in next month’s showpiece in Kiev.
“I think we’ll obviously be disappointed with the two goals because it felt as though we were in full control and we basically gave them two goals, [which] you can’t really do at Champions League [level],” the captain told BT Sport.
“But at the same time we’ve played well, we’ve won the game and we’ll go there with a three-goal advantage.
“It’ll be difficult because as you’ve seen in the last round, they came back against Barcelona, who are one of the best teams in the world, and they managed to knock them out so it’ll be a really tough challenge for us, but we’ve got to be confident after the performance. We’ve got to go there and put a solid display on and hopefully get us to the final.”
Just 32 minutes of play, straddled over half-time, separated Salah’s stunning opener and Firmino’s headed fifth goal of the evening as Liverpool, once again, produced an exhilarating surge of attacking potency that their opponents were powerless to resist.
And Henderson believes the Reds are more than capable of scoring at least one away goal of their own in Rome.
“I thought some of the runs and some of the balls in behind were brilliant. It’s probably disappointing to not score more, to be honest, but overall we’ve got to stay positive,” the midfielder continued.
“It was another huge game, we knew it wouldn’t be easy tonight, we knew it wouldn’t be easy over there, it’s really tough as Barcelona found so we need to be on our best.
“But I fancy us to go there and score as well, with the forward players we’ve got. It’ll be a challenge, but one we’ve got to look forward to and hopefully we can finish the job off.”