Liverpool had impressed everyone with their 3-0 demolition of Manchester City in their quarter-final first leg, and they went into the second leg at the Ethiad with a supreme advantage, however within a few minutes they were a goal down and panic set in.
The first half was a nightmare for Liverpool, as they suffered wave after wave of attacks, and when they got in at half-time, they would have been very happy that the score was only 1-0.
Speaking ahead of Liverpool's semi-final second leg against Roma, Reds midfielder Gini Wijnaldum has revealed that manager Jurgen Klopp saved them at half-time.
"I think we were too impressed by the way they were playing," Wijnaldum said, with regards to the first half. "We (were) lucky the game has two halves to play, as we could recover after the first half and play a good second half."
"We were surprised, I think, with their unbelievable attacking speed. We weren’t really ready for what was to come. I think there was a warning for us for the way we played against City."
He revealed that Klopp told them to have confidence and composure when they went back out. "The manager said we didn’t need to be scared, we just have to play our own game," the midfielder continued. "If we played football we would create chances, as there was so much space in behind."
"He said to play a little bit more instead of playing the direct ball. I think he showed us on the screen, (because) we were dropping too deep. I think maybe because we were impressed and maybe a little bit too scared."
It worked, and Liverpool scored twice in the second half, walking away 5-1 winners on aggregate. If Roma begin a comeback on Wednesday, Liverpool will do well to think back to that team-talk.