This week is a massive one for the four teams remaining in the Champions League, 
after two very different but equally dramatic first leg ties last week, we now approach the second legs of these games with two teams seemingly set for the final, unless one or both of the other two sides can spring a big upset.
Let’s take a look at how both first legs panned out last week, before we preview both the second legs of these ties taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
Champions League Semi Final 1st Leg Review
Liverpool 5 (Salah 35, 45, Mane 56, Firmino 61, 68)
AS Roma 2 (Dzeko 81, Perotti 85 pen)
Two late goals from Roma spoilt what was otherwise a perfect night for Liverpool who led 5-0 with 10 minutes to go against a Roma side that were no match for the home teams pace and power on the attack.
Roma began the brighter of the two sides and almost took the lead when a Kolarov shot was parried unconvincingly onto the bar by Karius. However, after that the Reds took control and after Mane missed two good chances, Salah put the Reds in front with a fine left foot shot that went in off the bar. He made it two just 10 minutes later, racing through to chip Alisson and give Liverpool the perfect tonic at half time.
The only down side for the Reds was a season-ending injury for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who was replaced early in the first half by Gini Wijnaldum.
The second half just saw the Reds dominate and Mane, Firmino twice added further goals to make it 5-0 and seemingly secure the Reds passage to Kiev. However, the substitution of Salah blunted the Reds attack and late on Dzeko and a penalty from Perotti gave Roma hope of a 3-0 home win to progress.
Bayern Munich 1 (Kimmich 28)
Real Madrid 2 (Marcelo 44, Asensio 57)
Bayern will rue a glut of missed chances, and some poor defending, as they surrendered home advantage and now travel to Madrid 2-1 down from the first leg after an uncharacteristically profligate night in front of the goal for the German side.
Bayern were on top for much of the game and had already missed chances before Joshua Kimmich’s cross-cum-shot deceived Keylor Navas at his near post to put the German side in front. They could well have added to that lead before they conceded a poor equaliser, poor defending leading to Marcelo’s sweet strike into the bottom left hand corner of the net just before half time.
Real played better in the second period but still Bayern created chances, but they once again paid for some sloppy defending on 57 minutes when Rafinha’s bad pass as the last man left the Bayern defence exposed and sub Asensio shot powerfully past Ulreich to give Real a 2-1 lead.
Further missed chances led to an exasperated evening for the German side who for the second year in a row head to the Bernebeu in this competition trailing 2-1 from the first leg. Last time around Bayern forced extra time after winning 2-1 in Madrid (before conceding three goals in extra time after being reduced to 10 men). This task looks even trickier based on the first leg evidence and especially with Jerome Boateng and Arjen Robben both ruled out after picking up injuries in the first half of this game.
Champions League Semi Finals Second Leg 
Preview
Real Madrid (2) v (1) Bayern Munich
Despite taking a lead into the home leg, Real won’t take anything for granted in the second leg at the Bernebeu. Last year, they achieved the same result in Munich but lost the second leg 2-1 in Spain, only to score three goals in extra time after Arturo Vidal was sent off for Bayern late in the second leg.
Bayern’s cause is not helped by a lengthy injury list which already saw Vidal ruled out and now sees Robben and Boateng absent after they picked up injuries in the first leg. With Manuel Neuer still absent with a long-term injury, Bayern will likely make a couple of changes, though there is a chance Kingsley Conan, their fleet-of-foot French winger could return for the second leg.
Dani Carvajal is ruled out for Rea Madrid, with Nacho and Isco also a doubt, but other than that Zinedine Zidane has a relatively full-strength squad to pick from. The home side will want to avoid the drama of the last round where only a last-minute Cristiano Ronaldo penalty saw them beat Juventus at home, after the Italian side went 3-0 up in Spain, following a 3-0 defeat in the home leg in Turin.
Tip – Real rarely put together back to back home defeats in any competition, let alone the Champions League, so I’m backing the home side to do just enough to win here. Coral are offering 11/10 on a Real win and against an injury hit Bayern side, I think that is good value.
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AS Roma (2) v (5) Liverpool
Can AS Roma perform another miraculous comeback as they did against Barcelona in the last round when they trailed 4-1 from the first leg. In Rome they managed to nullify Messi and Suarez while netting three goals to claim a stunning comeback victory and their two late goals at Anfield gives them a chance to do the same here.
However, their biggest problem is Liverpool’s goalscoring threat. The Reds have now scored an incredible 44 goals in the tournament so far, just one short of the record set by Barcelona in 1999/2000 when they netted 45. Incredibly the Reds average 3.38 goals per game in the tournament this season.
While Roma can point to some lacklustre Liverpool defending at times this season to help their cause, as well as a vociferous home support, it is worth noting the Italian side have never beaten Liverpool at home and their only win over the Reds was by a 1-0 scoreline.
I can see Roma getting a goal or two here, but my worry for them is that Liverpool look just as likely to score goals on the counter. They have rattled in seven in Branik, three in Seville, five in Porto and two against Manchester City, all on their travels. A goal in Rome for the Reds, barring a dramatic collapse, should be enough to put them through.
Tip – Roma I feel will do enough to win the game on Wednesday but I feel Liverpool will score enough goals for it not to matter in the end. Back Roma to win and both teams to score at 27/10 with Coral.
