SteemSports Presenter:@rickie
SteemSports Editor:@scottybuckets
Like we know, records are meant to be set and then ultimately broken, in the world of sports. And Italian football club, Roma, did themselves a whole lot of good by breaking their record spell of not having progressed to the semi-final stage of the UEFA Champions for over 34 years last night, when they bundled European giants Barcelona out of the UEFA Champions League in their second leg quarter-final encounter last night.
Barcelona had won the first-leg 4 – 1 convincingly at the Camp Nou, and they were looked upon as favorites from the on-set to progress to the last four, and to perhaps win the UEFA Champions League this season, but Roma had other plans for the second leg in the Stadio Olimpico, Rome.
Squad Line-up:
Roma – Becker; Jesus, Fazio, Manolas; Kolarov, Strootman, De Rossi, Nainggolan, Florenzi; Schick, Dzeko
Barcelona – Ter Stegen; Semedo, Piqué, Umtiti, Alba; Sergi Roberto, Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta; Messi, Suarez
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Referee: Clement Turpin (France)
Scoreline: Roma 3 – 0 Barcelona
Attendance: 56,580
Even the Spanish press is still bedazzled as to what happen to Barcelona in Italy, last night. The current La Liga leaders had no excuse whatsoever not to have made it through last night. Yet, the star-studded side including the iconic Lionel Messi still found a way to lose 3 – 0 on the night. And the strange thing is that the humiliation and ridicule handed over to Ernesto Valverde’s men was completely deserved.
Edin Dzeko, Daniele De Rossi, and Kostas Manolas were the stars on the night. Ironically, all three players equally scored in the first-leg encounter in Spain. Daniele De Rossi and Kostas Manolas had scored own-goals in the 4 – 1 to Barcelona, while Edin Dzeko had gotten the consolatory away goal in the fixture.
However, on the occasion of a second-leg match-up, the table and tide turned around. There was no repeat of the scandalous defending by Roma; instead it was a case of complete redemption and a historic result for the lowly rated Italian club, against their more illustrious opponent, Barcelona – at the Stadio Olimpico Stadium in Rome, Italy.
Roma defender, Kostas Manolas, who was superb on the night, had tears in his eyes as they all went wild in celebration at the Stadio Olimpico after the match. The not-so-heralded Serie A side had pulled off a sensational comeback in the second-leg with a 3 – 0 (4 – 4 aggregate) win, to ridicule Barcelona and qualify for the semi-final of the Champions League on away goals.
The 2015 winners Barcelona had been heavy favorites to reach the semis following a convincing 4 – 1 first-leg win; however, they disgracefully fell apart to Roma's brilliance and structurally organized play on the night.
Former Manchester City striker, Edin Dzeko found the net early on, as he struck from close range to give Roma an early lead and a slim hope of overturning the 4 – 1 deficit in the first-leg.
The Bosnia International was in a world of form as he also had a head over moments later, and Czech forward Patrik Schick who had a chance at goal from a promising position, nodded wide.
Still, the momentum was with the Italian side, and on the night, Barcelona was completely on the receiving end of a high-tempo, energetic performance from Roma. With the pressure piling up a Barcelona and for which they had no answer to, Roma’s disciplined play eventually paid-off again as they were awarded a penalty just before the 60th minute.
Gerard Pique was the culprit on this occasion; as he fouled Edin Dzeko in the box, and Daniele De Rossi stepped up to confidently dispatch the spot-kick to a jubilant celebration by the home fans.
With few minutes left to play and with time running out for a Barcelona side lacing any ideas whatsoever to aid their recovery, Roma’s Cengiz Under found space to drive a cross at the near post, and Greece international, Kostas Manolas reacted quickest and rose highest to meet the cross and score the crucial third goal sending Roma fans into a frenzy.
The Barcelona players couldn’t believe what they were witnessing and Coach Ernesto Valverde was simply lost on the sidelines following the third Roma goal, for which he had no answer to from the bench.
Lionel Messi cast a very lost and dejected figure as he had no response and despite his brilliance for Barcelona this season in the league, couldn’t impact the very crucial game that slipped off their hands, despite having taken commanding control of the tie in the first-leg.
With the victory, Roma became only the third team in the history of the Champions League to overturn a first-leg deficit of three or more goals in the knockout stage after Deportivo La Coruna did similar against AC Milan in 2004, and Barcelona repeated a similar comeback against Paris St-Germain in last season’s Champions League.
At the sound of the final whistle, the home crowd erupted as the Roma substitutes and coaching staff tearfully ran onto the pitch to celebrate with the players, following the unthinkable result against one of Europe’s greatest sides.
Thank you for following @steemsports and you can find me @rickie
There is no motivational trainer in this world who can learn you more about motivation, courage, sacrifice and sucess. It is truly a triumph of the old schoold football against the modern one. Last time I felt happy like this was when Leicester City were celebrating their Premier League title....
This is one of the rare moments in today's football when you see such a comeback. A true cinderella story 👍
I agree with you @acmilannews. It was such a rare moment in football, to come back from such a first leg loss. Thanks for reading.
Sadly am a barcelona fan, I am really really sad and disappointed with the outcome of the game. No one really expected Roma to beat us, but in football anything can happen and I now understand that statement. Anyways congrats to Roma it was a very interesting and entertaining match, I wish them the best of luck.
Yea, i feel bad for Barcelona and the fans. It was such an unexpected loss. Roma really gave their all in last night's game too. Thanks for reading @owen121.
No problem, you welcome
Nice sport
Hi@steemsports, that was nice game! I enjoy that time this game. I appreciate you for this post. Keep up the good work.
It's always nice to see good content here on Steemit
Barcelona is one of the best in Europe, but it has its weaknesses, and Rome used them to humiliate Barcelona against the world! In a face to fece game he did the unimaginable! forza gladiatore