Liverpool legend: Klopp's "unstoppable" Reds far better than the Istanbul icons

Liverpool legend Mark Lawrenson believes his former club are suddenly emerging as favourites to win next month’s Champions League final in Kiev.

Jurgen Klopp’s side head into Wednesday’s semi-final second leg against Roma defending a 5-2 first leg advantage, with Lawrenson suspecting Liverpool’s front three of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino are still giving Roma’s defenders sleepless nights after they were torn to shreds by them at Anfield last Tuesday.

Paddy Power ambassador Lawrenson won the 1984 European Cup in a Liverpool team that beat Roma in the final and he has told Yahoo Sport that Klopp’s men are “virtually unstoppable” when they click into top gear.

Tellingly, he has backed Liverpool to win a sixth European crown next month.

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“Are Liverpool favourites to win the Champions League?” ponders former Ireland defender Lawrenson. “On the evidence of what we have seen in the last few weeks, you would have to say yes.

“If we play in the next few games in this competition against Porto, Manchester City and Roma, it will take an amazing team to stop us.

“This team is way better than 2005 Liverpool side that won the Champions League under Rafael Benitez and I suspect Klopp has known from the start of this European campaign that he had a team to do some real damage in the Champions League this season.

“You look at the team selections Klopp had made in this competition and it had been full strength in every game. That tells me that he has had his eye on doing something special in this competition and the trophy is there for the taking now.

“Real Madrid are favourites to come through from the other semi-final and they are not a team that strike fear into you, but I’m sure all the teams left in the Champions League look at the Liverpool from three and don’t fancy trying to stop them.”

Lawrenson joined the elite band of Liverpool European Cup winners as he played his part in their 1984 final victory against Roma at the same Stadio Olympico arena that will host the second leg of this year’s semi-final on Wednesday.

That was the night when Liverpool keeper Bruce Grobbelaar produced his ‘spaghetti legs’ antics in what proved to be a successful effort to distract Roma’s penalty takers in an iconic shoot-out that was won by Ray Kennedy’s decisive spot kick.

Salah, Firmino or Mane could join the list of Liverpool legends who fired a winning goal in next month’s Champions League final and in Lawrenson’s opinion, the trio are an irresistible force that are impossible to stop when they click into top gear.

“Imagine the mood in the Roma dressing room ahead of the second leg on Wednesday,” he says. “They will be terrified of that Liverpool front three after what they did to them in the first leg and the message from their manager will be that we need to go out and attack Liverpool and also keep a clean sheet.

“That will hardly feel like a realistic ambition when you have just been battered into submission by the best front three in European football, so they will be worried about what is coming their way. While I know they came back from the dead against Barcelona in the last round, they will struggle to keep Salah, Mane and Firmino out on Wednesday night.

“Roma were decent for the first 20 minutes at Anfield and then Liverpool upped it, scored two quick goals and you could see their players looking at the bench asking their manager what they were supposed to do.

“Passes down the sides of the opposition central defenders have been the key to Liverpool’s success this season because the front three are so quick and and what we saw from the front three the other night was no surprise because they are unstoppable.

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“In addition, Salah, Firmino and Mane are wonderful team players. The way the front three work without the ball is fabulous and they don’t get enough credit for that.

“When the rest of the Liverpool team see the shift the front three are putting in, you appreciate they are as good any defender in that team. They work so hard as a trio and that is inspirational to the players behind them.

“Some people were worried that Liverpool had let it slip by letting in the two late goals against Roma on Tuesday, but turn that on its head and think about it from a different perspective. Imagine we were 2-0 down and came back to win 5-2. People would be talking about it as if it was the greatest result of all time, so let’s keep in mind that Liverpool have a three-goal advantage here.

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“Liverpool don’t really have a plan B, so going to Rome and trying to defend was never going to be an option. Klopp would always have sent his team out to try and score goals and I think he will do that again in Rome.

Klopp’s status as a Liverpool hero could move to a whole new level if he cements his legacy with Champions League glory next month.

All of a sudden, that dream feels tantalisingly close.

Mark Lawrenson is a Paddy Power ambassador. To read more, go to news.paddypower.com