There were mixed emotions in the European papers on Thursday morning, as publications from Italy and Spain reacted to Liverpool’s Champions League win.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, there was an element of bitterness as publications based in Italy wrote about their Roma side crashing out 7-6 on aggregate.
Corriere dello Sport led with the headline ‘Another Injustice!’ before noting that Eusebio Di Francesco’s side have their heads ‘held so high’ after the game.
Corriere dello Sport and La Gazzetta dello Sport were both disappointed with Roma’s result
Barcelona-based Mundo Deportivo, on the other hand, were full of praise for Jurgen Klopp
Roma won 4-2 on the night but it was not enough to overturn the first-leg deficit, and they had two huge penalty shouts waved away.
In fact, Corriere claim there were ‘yet more refereeing errors against an Italian club’, and ‘two clear penalties not given’.
La Gazzetta dello Sport, meanwhile, claim the tie was ‘poisoned’ by the penalty they were denied and the paper carry some quotes from Roma’s president James Pallotta.
After the match, he claimed: ‘It’s absolutely clear that VAR is needed in the Champions League, because you can’t let stuff like this go.
‘You can all look at it yourself. Dzeko wasn’t offside, got taken down for a penalty. At the 65th minute, there was a handball that was obvious to everybody in the world except those on the pitch. In the 67th minute [Patrik] Schick gets taken down in the box, I mean it’s just…
‘I know it’s difficult to ref, but it’s really embarrassing when we lose on aggregate like that… By the way, it should’ve been a red card, so would’ve been 10 men from the 63rd minute.
Klopp congratulates his players after they beat Roma 7-6 on aggregate to reach the final
Sadio Mane scored early on to help put Liverpool out of reach in the Stadio Olimpico
‘Again, congratulations to Liverpool, they’re a great team, but if we don’t get VAR in the Champions League, stuff like this is an absolute joke.’
Over in Spain, meanwhile, there was a more rounded approach to the game, with Mundo Deportivo labelling Klopp a ‘hero’.
The Barcelona-based publication will surely be rooting for the Reds when they face Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
On their Thursday front page, they hail the ‘festival of goals’ in the semi-final and look back to the last time Klopp managed to beat Real Madrid in 2013.