Kostas Manolas celebrating after putting Roma up three against a devasted Barcelona, eliminating them from the UEFA Champions League. @championsleague
A historic, unexpected turn of events occurred during this week’s Champions League fixtures. We had AS Roma against Barcelona, and the English derby with Manchester City versus Liverpool.
AS Roma vs. FC Barcelona
Starting Line-ups: Ter Stegen, Alba, Umtiti, Pique, Semedo; Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta, Sergi Roberto; Dembele, Suarez, Messi
Starting Line-ups: Alisson. Manolas, Fazio, Juan Jesus, Florenzi; Nainggolan, De Rossi, Strootman; Kolarov, Dzeko, Schick
For the first time since 1984, Italian side AS Roma have reached the UEFA Champions League semifinals after beating Barcelona Tuesday. Playing at the Stadio Olimpico, AS Roma needed three goals to go to the next stage while Barcelona seemed to have already secured the spot at the Camp Nou during last week’s first leg.
The stadium’s atmosphere was spectacular with fans chanting and encouraging their team to make a comeback. Kicking off, Los Blaugranas had good control and possession, creating multiple chances to take the lead with Sergi Roberto’s shot at Roma’s goalkeeper Alisson and Lionel Messi’s shot-wide attempt. It did not take long for their fans to receive hope, a long ball bypassed Jordi Alba and Samuel Umtiti in Barcelona’s defense, leaving German goalkeeper Marc Ter Stegen on his own to deal with forward Edin Dzeko’s shot. Dzeko having a one-on-one with the goalkeeper poked it into the net and jumpstarted his team with more force and determination.
With an early goal and 84 minutes to go, Roma now had motivation and self-belief that they could make the comeback with needing only two goals. Barcelona’s defense was disrupted and unorganized allowing Roma to take full advantage, clearly taking control of the game.
During the second half, Roma was dominating even more. In the 58thminute, Pique committed a foul inside the box which resulted in a penalty for Roma. Daniele De Rossi went up to take the shot and netted it in with Ter Stegen getting a touch on the ball, but it wasn’t enough to deflect the ball out. Roma’s dream was now alive more than ever and the stadium was bursting with chants and cheers. Roma needed only one goal now to break the Champions League semifinal drought and they did exactly that. In the final eight minutes of regular time, Kostas Manolas heads in the ball from a left corner kick. It wasn’t surprising that Roma took the game as Barcelona lacked defensively during both legs. Barcelona was lucky to get their own two goals and two goals by Suarez and Pique in the first leg at the Camp Nou but that wasn’t enough to stop Roma’s constant pressure and effective attacking forwards. Lionel Messi also seemed to have a bad game having less of an impact than in the first game while Marc Ter Stegen had a wonderful match not considering the three goals.
Roma wanted it more than Barcelona and they demonstrated that on the field. Barcelona may have laid back as they were up by three goals, but that didn’t stop Roma’s dream to go the semifinals. Barcelona’s defense was lackluster and was not on par with what it’s been throughout this season, showing they have a strong defensive aspect as they have equalized La Liga’s record for the longest unbeaten streak in the Spanish league after beating Leganes this past Saturday.
It’s quite an unexpected result as Barcelona was the stronger side on paper, having the La Liga title almost secured and having a spot in the Spanish cup Copa Del Rey final. This time it was Roma’s turn for an unbelievable comeback, as last season Barcelona also made a historic comeback over Paris Saint Germain’s 4-0 advantage to reach the quarterfinals. Barcelona has now struck out in the quarterfinals for the third time in a row, being outclassed last season by Juventus.
Liverpool also had a spectacular game visiting Manchester City with the contest ending in a 1-2 win and a final aggregate of 1-5. It’s also another historic event for Liverpool as this is the first time they have reached a UEFA Champions League semifinal since the 2008/09 season.
