Georginio Wijnaldum says Liverpool must be happy despite conceding late away goals to Roma

Wijnaldum admits that Liverpool gave Roma 'much more encouragement' with the two late strikes but remains positive of progression

Georginio Wijnaldum replaced the injured Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain against Roma (Getty)

Georginio Wijnaldum believes Liverpool have to happy with their display in the first leg of their 5-2 Champions League semi-final victory over Roma, despite handing their opponents a late lifeline at Anfield.

Two away goals in the final 10 minutes gave Eusebio di Francesco’s side hope of another second-leg turnaround in Rome to match their remarkable comeback against Barcelona in the quarter-finals.

Yet braces from Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino either side of a Sadio Mané goal mean Liverpool have one foot in next month’s Kiev final and Wijnaldum believes he and his team-mates have to be thankful for that.

“Of course the last 10 minutes we didn’t do well but if someone had said before the game: ‘Would you be happy with a 5-2?’, everyone would have been happy with the result,” the midfielder said.

“We know we still have 90 minutes to go so we have to remain concentrated. We have to be happy we scored five goals.

“We know we can score goals but we have to do it there and we must try not to concede because that will give them more confidence,” Wijnaldum added.

“I think those two goals have given them much more encouragement because in their last result against Barcelona was 4-1 and they scored three goals at home so that will give them confidence.

“We also know what happened there so we have to be aware that it doesn’t happen to us.”

Liverpool struggled to control the contest initially and Roma were the better of the two teams in the initial stages, but the home side’s improvement coincided with Wijnaldum’s introduction for the injured Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

“The first 15-20 minutes were a little bit difficult and they had the possibility to score with a shot from the edge of the area but after that I think we dominated the game and in the second half we dominated until the last 10 minutes,” the Dutchman said.

“It is difficult to say [what changed]. It just happens in a game. We were just trying to play our own game and even if it didn’t go well we were still trying to do it because we know we can create chances with it.

“At the end Mo scored the first one, the second one... it’s a pleasure.”

Oxlade-Chamberlain’s injury was the main downside to Liverpool’s evening, with manager Jurgen Klopp later suggesting that the 24-year-old’s hopes of playing again this season and at this summer’s World Cup were now in serious doubt.

Wijnaldum said of his team-mate: “I spoke with him in the dressing room and what the manager said, it is difficult. We still have to see how bad it is – hopefully it will not be that bad.”