Liverpool will face off with Real Madrid in return to Champions League final

FULL TIME — THE MATCH ENDS AND KLOPP IS BRINGING LIVERPOOL BACK TO THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL.

90 + 4’ — GOAL ROMA SCORED BY NAINGGOLAN, 4-2, (6-7 aggregate). Nainggolan gets his second of the day when he fires a penalty straight down the middle past Karius.

90 + 3’ — PENALTY TO ROMA. Of course. What else does this game need? A ball over the top is cut back and bounces up to the hand of Klavan, who is called for a hand ball and a penalty awarded. Surely Roma is out of time, though?

90 + 2’ — SUBSTITUTION LIVERPOOL. Clyne on for Alexander-Arnold. The 19-year-old did a job, and for a match like this, did well. I still fear for him in the final.

87’ — SUBSTITUTION LIVERPOOL. Solanke on for Firmino. The 20-year-old comes on to run around a bit and presumably eat up a lot of clock.

86’ — GOAL ROMA SCORED BY NAINGGOLAN, 2-3 (7-5 aggregate). A ball played across the top of the box is caught by Nainggolan, who connects gorgeously with his right foot and sends the ball in off the post. What a strike. What a match. Someone find me a cigarette.

85’ (4:28 p.m. ET) — Yellow cards handed out to Manolas and Robertson for an altercation I totally missed because I was typing this blog up. But uh, apparently things are getting chippy!

83’ — LIVERPOOL SUBSTITUTION. Ragnar Klavan on for Sadio Mane. Klopp shores things up by bringing in the 32-year-old Estonian defender.

82’ — A few friends have brought this up online, but the thought of Trent Alexander-Arnold trying to defend Cristiano Ronaldo in the Champions League final is horrifying to think about.

75’ — ROMA SUBSTITUTION. Mirko Antonucci on for El Shaarawy, who put in a great shift and generated plenty of chances. We’ll forgive him for that ridiculous dive in the first half.

74’ — Roma looks like they might do it at times, but then Firmino and Salah start breaking the other way, and I’m not so sure anymore.

Also everyone looks tired all of a sudden. I get it. I’m exhausted just watching.

I read someone recently, I forget who and I apologize, who wrote that Jurgen Klopp has built a team in Liverpool that thrives in chaos. This tie, both matches, has been chaos. So now here, even as I think maybe this Roma team has the stuff to make something happen, well, OK. But this is also what Liverpool wants. And all it takes is two or three Salah touches, and it’s over.

63’ (4:05 p.m. ET) — I’m one more Roma goal away from trying to talk myself into a comeback here, but let me just say that Jordan Henderson and sweet, simple James Milner have both been great for large portions of this match, covering a ton of ground against a Roma team that’s throwing a lot of bodies forward.

Also, Alexander-Arnold just saved an El Shaarawy shot with his right hand, and the referee (and everyone else, including El Shaarawy I think) totally missed it. LET THE BANTER BEGIN.

51’ — GOAL ROMA, 2-2 SCORED BY EDIN DZEKO (7-4 aggregate) Two minutes ago I complained that I hadn’t seen a goal in 30 minutes. Thank you for the prompt response, this game. I appreciate that level of service.

As for the goal? A shot from El Shaarawy is saved by Karius, right into the feet of Dzeko, who fires home. I’d tell you more, but frankly these goals are all getting blurry. I’ve seen 11 of them now in this tie. Goals have ceased to have meaning. Remember when Salah scored those two back at Anfield? That was a lifetime ago. We were so young and foolish then.

49’ — A penalty shout, and would have been a decent one, as Dzeko touches past Karius, who catches the striker’s foot and brings him down in the box. All for naught though, as Dzeko is ruled offside.

It’s been nearly 30 minutes and I haven’t seen a goal. What is this?

46’ — Second half underway. No changes for either side, but already Roma is throwing five men forward. I can’t see Mo Salah licking his lips but I’m just going to assume that’s happening right now.

HALFTIME. Chances galore for both sides, but Liverpool goes into the break up 2-1 in the match, with a 7-3 lead aggregate.

44’ (3:30 p.m. ET) — This time El Shaarawy goes down and there actually is some contact. It’s Lovren on the edge of the box, and the Liverpool defender is shown a yellow card for the shove.

On the ensuing free kick, Pelligrini kicks the ball to the moon.

40’ — Roma penalty appeal when El Shaarawy cuts inside on Alexander-Arnold and goes flying down in the box. It’s waved off, and upon replay ... yikes, El Shaarawy. You should be ashamed of yourself.

35’ — Roma off the post! Milner nearly had his second goal of the match for Roma, after an El Shaarawy shot deflected off the Liverpool man and nearly snuck into the far post.

There are more goals coming in this match, believe you me. Roma is still going for it, Liverpool is still committed to keeping an attacking three of Salah, Firmino and Mane. And Milner has his eyes set on goal, either one will do.

26’ — GOAL LIVERPOOL, 2-1, WIJNALDUM (7-3 aggregate). GOALS AND MORE GOALS, I SAY. GIVE ME ALL OF THEM. GIVE ME EVERYTHING YOU’VE GOT. This time a corner in from Liverpool isn’t dealt with, Virgil Van Dijk heads it on, and Georginio Wijnaldum, just onside, nods it home. We’ve seen 10 goals in 120 minutes of this tie. I’m a glutton. More.

23’ (3:10 p.m. ET) — The cameras keep panning to James Milner as if he’s supposed to feel shame for scoring that own goal. Dude had a ball rocketed into his face from four yards away. Not sure this is something he’ll lose sleep over, thinking about what he could have done differently. “Ay, if I had only not had a head.”

15’ — GOAL ROMA, 1-1, OWN GOAL FROM JAMES MILNER (6-3 aggregate). That was weird as shit. Liverpool just tried to clear it, and it hit poor, boring James Milner straight in the face, and in it goes. Roma back ... alive? Milner scores when he wants, I suppose.

9’ — GOAL LIVERPOOL, 1-0, SCORED BY SADIO MANE (6-2 aggregate). And that’s the danger of Roma going for it ... this is what Liverpool does. They handle pressure, they counter, and when you have Firmino, Salah and Mane running at you, there’s no good way to handle it. This time a bad pass from Nainggolan frees up the counter, Mane is the one who finds space on the left wing, and a simple pass in allows him to finish coolly. This is not the start that Roma needed.

7’ — Roma has had the most of it so far, and are finding some success working down the left wing, going at 19-year-old Liverpool right back Trent Alexander-Arnold repeatedly. (It’s not a bad strategy, even though I like Alexander-Arnold a lot. It’s just, you know, he’s 19 and playing away from home in the Champions League semifinal. I couldn’t handle the pressure of taking a date to the movies when I was 19.)

1’ — AND WE’RE OFF. Both teams come out in a 4-3-3. Roma needs goals and a bunch of them. This has been your instant analysis of the kickoff.

Liverpool travel to Rome on Wednesday to take on Roma in the second leg of their Champions League semifinal, all for the right to play Real Madrid in the final.

Liverpool took a commanding 5-2 lead in the first leg of the semifinal, in a wild match that saw Liverpool jump to a 5-0 lead off a spectacular performance from Mo Salah ... and then give up two late goals to get Roma back in with hope for a possible run to a final.

The Starting Lineups:

Here is all the info you need to watch the match.

Match Date/Time: Wednesday, 2:45 p.m. ET, 8:45 p.m. local

Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy

TV: Fox Sports 1 (U.S. - English), ESPN Deportes (U.S. - Spanish), Canale 5 (Italy), BT Sport 2 (UK)

Online: WatchESPN, fuboTV (U.S.), Premium Sport Live (Italy), BT Sport Live (UK)

Make friends: Check out The Liverpool Offside for more Liverpool coverage, and head over to Chiesa di Totti for more on Roma.

Listings for more countries can be found at LiveSoccerTV.