Liverpool one goal away from all-time scoring record
Mohamed Salah, against his old club, and Roberto Firmino both scored twice but two late goals gave Roma faint hope.
Dejan Lovren then headed against the woodwork, but it was 2-0 before the break, Firmino again setting Salah clear and the Egyptian clipping beyond the advancing Alisson Becker. There was no escape for Roma 11 minutes after half-time either, Salah scampering down the right and squaring for Mané to roll in the third.
Liverpool continued to pile forward and were rewarded with a fourth as Salah skipped past Juan Jesus before crossing for Firmino to score. Then a rarity – a Liverpool goal not scored or assisted by Salah, James Milner's corner met by Firmino for 5-0.
Liverpool had one foot and both arms in the final but Roma – ruthlessly picked apart by their hosts for the best part of 80 minutes – came roaring back in the closing stages to give themselves a lifeline.
oma's powers of recovery beggars belief. After overturning a 4-1 first-leg loss to eliminate Barcelona in the last round, they have garnered a degree of hope ahead of the second leg. Their defensive shortcomings certainly need to be addressed, but Eusebio Di Francesco's men will be encouraged by the fact that a repeat of their 3-0 win against Barcelona at the Stadio Olimpico would take them to Kyiv. Can lightning strike twice?
"It's a perfect performance for pretty much 80 minutes. We made one defensive mistake, but that is the situation and now it is 5-2. Of course we would have been more happy with 5-0 or 5-1 but 5-2 is a fantastic result. We go there and try again. It is absolutely better than I thought before the game."