Champions League Preview : Real, Bayern ; Liverpool Roma face each other in semis

Roma face Liverpool in Anfield on Tuesday and Real face Bayern in the Allianz Arena on Wednesday in the Champions League semi-finals.

The Champions League returns this week with the semi-finals taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday. The first semi-final sees Liverpool facing off Roma in the first leg at Anfield. The second semi-final will be a clash of the titans between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. Both Bayern and Real looked disappointing in the second leg of their quarterfinals which saw Bayern unable to score and Real edging past Juventus courtesy of a controversial penalty by Cristiano Ronaldo. The Los Blancos were the favorites after they trumped the Italian giants Juventus 3-0 but suffered a scare as they were trailing 3-0 after 67 minutes but a controversial penalty converted by Ronaldo made sure that the Los Blancos progressed to the quarterfinals` for the 8th consecutive time. For the Germans, a 2-1 lead over Sevilla in the first leg was enough to see them go through as they drew  0-0 in the second leg.  Although the Bavarian giants qualified, they were unexpectedly poor in their own turf and somehow managed a draw. Bayern qualified for the 7th time in 9 years. Liverpool was too good for Manchester City at Anfield defeating them 3-0 and they made sure that they don't get carried away in the second leg and the heroics of Mo Salah made sure that they defeat the newly crowned English Champions 5-2 in aggregate. Roma were the most unexpected Semi-finalists as they were trailing 4-1 in the first leg itself against Barcelona. It looked like Messi & Co. were finally progressing to the semi-finals after 2 seasons but Rossi & Co. had other plans as Roma pulled off the Remontada to win in away goals. The semi-finals will be very intriguing as two favorites off the tournament meet each other in one semi-final and the two dark horses of the tournament face off in the another. Bayern will be without their Chilean warrior Arturo Vidal who just had a knee surgery and may also see Neuer not playing as he has arrived from the injury before a few days only. Real will miss Nacho in the first leg. Real will look to maintain their winning streak against the Bavarians while on the other hand, Bayern will look to win against the Los Merengues and give a fitting end to their caretaker manager, Jupp Heynckes' career. Roma after the comeback against Barca will be very confident but will face arguably the most dangerous trio of Mane, Salah, and Firmino who have plundered in a number of goals. Liverpool will also be aware of the aerial threat of Edin Dzeko and will look to stop the Bosnian over the two legs As the competition is approaching its climax, it will be very interesting to see the semi-finals as the teams will try their best to win the fixture and clinch the trophy.