The last time Liverpool put Roma out of Europe – thanks to Emile Heskey

Liverpool were not blessed with the attacking talents of Salah, Mané and Firmino when they played Roma in a must-win match in 2002, but Emile Heskey and Jari Litmanen stepped up

By Fergal McAlinden for These Football Times

As soon as Liverpool and Roma were drawn together in the Champions League semi-finals this season, memories were instantly cast back to their famous encounter in the 1984 European Cup final. Bruce Grobbelaar’s theatrics, Alan Kennedy’s shootout heroics and the vivid colour of the baying crowd in the Stadio Olimpico have cemented the game as a European classic, a match that conjures recollections of Liverpool’s glories.

Yet the story of their last meeting in Europe, in March 2002, also merits recounting. Roma, the reigning Serie A champions, were at their zenith; and Liverpool, who had won the Uefa Cup and the Uefa Super Cup the year before, were a young, hungry side determined to prove themselves among Europe’s elite.

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