Roma's Edin Džeko on Liverpool, Salah and City life

Edin Džeko has scored six in the UEFA Champions League this season, and will be hoping for more as his side aim for a final place. The Bosnian Diamond scored three goals in 11 games against semi-final opponents Liverpool during his time at Manchester City (W3 D4 L4), but is rightly wary about facing the Reds again.

On the semi-final games against Liverpool

They are going to be the most important games of the season. In 180 minutes we can get to the final, which is something we all dream about. But it's not going to be an easy task given that Liverpool are a strong team with a coach who likes aggressive football, just like us.

I didn't watch the game against Manchester City because we were playing on the same day at the same time. I only saw the result, and I'm sure that what they did against Manchester City isn't something just any team can achieve. A Liverpool side that scores five goals against Manchester City aren't easy opponents.

On Mohamed Salah

He played with us for two years and we're all sad he left, but that's football. A player who has scored 30 goals in the Premier League is definitely an attacker who can cause us problems. Liverpool play well together, so we shouldn't just focus on one player but on the whole team, which has good players in all positions.

On getting to Kyiv

I'm not thinking about the final yet, since we have two difficult matches against Liverpool ahead. [Getting to the final] would be a dream come true for us, but we are taking it one step at a time. Two difficult matches against Liverpool await us and it is certain that both teams have the same goal – the final.

On eliminating Barcelona in the quarter-finals

It was a special night for sure. Everything worked out well. We scored early, which gave us extra energy, both the players and the fans who supported us till the last minute. The most important goal was the one we scored at Barcelona but without the three goals we scored in Rome, it would have been impossible. After the first goal, we all started believing even more and, in the end, our dream of making the impossible possible against one the best teams in the world came true.

On playing for Manchester City

Džeko celebrates scoring for City©AFP/Getty Images

We didn't achieve big results in the Champions League. We could have and should have. Domestically, we won a lot of trophies. It was a great experience since the Premier League is the best league in the world. I played there for five years, I scored a lot of goals and won a lot of titles. I played with the best players, against the best players. It's an experience that helped me a lot but I think that I'm a much better player now than I was at Manchester City.

On moving to Roma

In my last season [at City], I didn't play a lot and I didn't have the best relationship with [manager Manuel] Pellegrini. I wasn't happy about that because I knew my qualities and I wanted to play more as those were my best years. But I made the right move when I came to Roma. The Italian league is very tactical and it took some time for me to get used to that, but I've been playing at a very high level for the past two years.