Liverpool constantly played long ball against Roma, says Daniele De Rossi

Liverpool “constantly went for the long ball” in Tuesday night’s 5-2 win over Roma, says midfielder Daniele De Rossi.

Goals from Mo Salah (2), Roberto Firmino (2) and Sadio Mane gave Liverpool a comfortable Champions League semi-final first-leg lead, before two late Roma goals brought them back into the tie.

Roma struggled to get into the game for 80 minutes, and though midfielder De Rossi insists his side played aggressively, he admits they were not allowed to impact the midfield.

He told Mediaset Premium: “It’s not right to put conceding so many goals on the defence. We all played very aggressively, even though we had the feeling of being able to affect little in midfield because they often bypassed it. They constantly went for the long ball, from any area of the pitch.

“The only difference is that, against Barcelona, I felt it was an unlucky game, with dubious incidents. We had a good first 20-25 minutes here, then we were less good at covering the space, but it’s difficult to do that when they’re much faster than you.”

Roma’s spectacular comeback against Barcelona in the quarter-final second leg, where they beat the Spanish side 3-0 following a 4-1 first-leg defeat, gives De Rossi hope for the second leg.

“We have to hold on to what we did in the quarter-finals [against Barcelona]. That tells us it’s not impossible and that we have a duty to try, for ourselves and, above all, the people who love Roma.

“Today was a case of our blackout and their great quality. It won’t be easy, but we have to start from here. It’s not impossible and we know that.”