Liverpool FC hosts AS Roma in the first leg of a Champions League semifinal today at Anfield, and it is a match "made in Boston," according to Joshua Robinson of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. Red Sox Owner John Henry, who owns Liverpool, and Celtics co-Owner James Pallotta, who owns AS Roma, "have been pals for over a decade." In fact, their friendship was "nearly a business partnership." In the early '00s, when Henry led a group of investors to take over the Red Sox, Pallotta was "part of a rival bid." Once he was out, Pallotta said that he "thought about joining Henry with an eye to acquiring the Red Sox and using his share in the Celtics as a way to bring the teams together on a single television channel." In '10, Henry "dove into European soccer with Liverpool." And Pallotta was "right behind him." In '11, having "never attended a soccer game," he spent $15.273M on a "minority share in then-struggling Roma alongside other American investors." He soon "acquired a controlling stake and set about dragging the venerable old club into the 21st century." The second leg of the semifinal is May 2 in Rome, and by the end of next week, either Henry or Pallotta will have a "Champions League final spot to show for his tenure." Whether it goes to Rome or Liverpool, Boston "might want to claim a piece of it too" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 4/24).
STORYBOOK MATCHUP: In London, Paul Joyce notes a "Boston derby" is how Pallotta referred to the matchup that "pits two American ownership regimes successfully shaping a brighter future" for two soccer institutions (THETIMES.co.uk, 4/24). Roma investor Richard D'Amore said, "This is a great story line -- the two Boston ownerships facing each other. I’ll take this." In Boston, Valencia & Caffrey in a front-page piece noted this is the "furthest Roma has ever advanced in the Champions League," while it is Liverpool's "deepest run" since an '07 loss in the final (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/23).
UNIQUE SITUATION: ESPN.com's Mark Ogden noted Liverpool and Roma have "bucked the trend by reaching the Champions League semifinals with a shared approach rooted in analytics, smart scouting and astute recruitment." Consulting and software company Sportsology CEO Mike Forde said, "Liverpool and Roma are great case studies of the impact of U.S. sports thinking on the Premier League and European football." He added, "A lot of credit for both teams' success should go to [Fenway President and Liverpool Dir] Mike Gordon at Liverpool and Jim Pallotta at Roma. Both had the vision, as owners, to see beyond 'business as usual' when it came to building an infrastructure to minimise risk when acquiring players, which is the biggest driver in long-term success" (ESPN.com, 4/23).
