Earlier today Reds fans learned their next Champions League fate as Liverpool were drawn against Roma in the semi-finals of Europe's premier competition.
Supporters will have been delighted with the draw, Roma being regarded as the weakest of all the opponents Liverpool could have faced. But there has been some suspicion around how the Reds came to be drawn with the Italian side, as a supposedly leaked image from Roma's official site appeared to advertise tickets to the return leg in the Stadio Olimpico against the English side yesterday.
The image was first reported by Rome's daily newspaper Il Tempo:
So, it appears that not only did Roma know their opponent, they knew the return leg was in Italy and also which day it was being played on i.e. the 2nd. The return leg could have been played on the 1st or 2nd depending on how the balls were drawn on the day.
Some pointed to the fact that the image has 2005 in the text as a clue to it's accuracy, but one internet sleuth revealed that the year was a reference to an ID law:
Refers to an ID law passed in 05
— Furmedge (@furmedge78) April 13, 2018
PrestwichBlue & Mcfcman cried foul play amid the 'leak', with the latter suggesting warm balls were used to determine the outcome of the draw:
So. Roma knew yesterday that they'd be playing Liverpool as they advertised tickets on their website. But it's not fixed of course.
— PrestwichBlue (@PrestwichBlue) April 13, 2018
Liverpool v Roma
Who’d have thought it eh?
Strange that Roma announced the ticket sales on their website yesterday and then deleted it straight away...#warmballs
— mcfcman ⚽️?? ??????? (@mcfcman66) April 13, 2018
Of course there is no way to gauge the veracity of this 'leaked' photo, but nevertheless it has led to much hullabaloo surrounding the integrity of the draw. There were however, cooler heads that questioned whether the leak was in fact genuine:
Is there any proof that the Roma Liverpool tickets photo is actually real
— G (@Milnxr) April 13, 2018
Mathie reasoned that the story could have been easily photoshopped:
To the people saying Roma leaked tickets for the Liverpool #UCL match... Here's me using Inspect element to 'leak' Arsenal announcing Wenger's retirement. pic.twitter.com/jv1xykW1OR
— Mathie (@suspendedmathie) April 13, 2018
Backseatman made a great point about the whole fiasco:
And ffs even if it was why are we complaining
— Backseatsman (@BackseatsmanLFC) April 12, 2018
It is also interesting to note that in the two games advertised in the picture that the Italian club is referred to Roma against Genoa and AS Roma against Liverpool and while it's always fun to stick on the tin foil hat it's hard to see this leak being the real McCoy.
