Pep sees red with Spanish ref
City and Barca sent crashing out of Europe on a night of drama
Olimpico. It secured a 3-0 victory for the Serie A outfit on the night and a 4-4 aggregate win, which saw them advance to the semi-finals on away goals against one of the favourites to win this year’s competition. There were jubilant scenes in Rome on a night when Messi and Luis Suarez hardly threatened the dominant home side. ‘It isn’t luck, this is what happened,’ said ecstatic Roma coach Eusebio di Francesco. ‘But it’s not enough, we can’t be satisfied. This is an extraordinary squad that needs to aim for the final in Kiev. Why shouldn’t we aim to get there?’ Shellshocked Barca coach Ernesto Valverde said: ‘We came here to try to win the match but they were really, really strong. ‘They ran a lot of risks and we were unable to overcome their pressure. It’s painful. Painful for our fans.’ The most likely comeback had appeared to be on at the Etihad after Gabriel Jesus gave Manchester City an early lead in their bid to turn around a 3-0 defeat from their first leg at Anfield. But superb strikes from Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino saw Liverpool advance to the semis. Jurgen Klopp’s side handed City their third defeat in a week, with City boss Pep Guardiola hitting out at referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz after he was sent to the stands. Guardiola was incensed the Spaniard disallowed a second City goal for offside even though the ball came off Liverpool’s James Milner before Leroy Sane put it in the net. ‘He’s a referee who likes to feel different,’ said Guardiola. ‘He’s special. When everybody sees the things, he is going to see the opposite. We spoke about it, we know him. ‘It’s too much to send (me) off because I didn’t say any wrong word. I didn’t insult him. I just said it was a goal. When you go to half-time 2-0, and not 1-0, it’s completely different against that side.’ Klopp promised Liverpool will try to go all the way in pursuit of their sixth European Cup. ‘We are here and we deserved it,’ he said. ‘The other teams will have their targets as well but we are not without ambitions. A normal semi-final could have been Barcelona versus City but they’re both out. ‘I really think City are the best team in the world at the moment but I knew we could beat them.’
THE miracle comeback happened last night, but incredibly it was in Rome instead of Manchester.
While Liverpool proved too strong for Manchester City, Roma sent shock waves around Europe by overcoming a 4-1 first-leg deficit to sensationally dump Lionel Messi’s Barcelona out of the Champions League.
Greek defender Kostas Manolas’ 82nd-minute header pulled off one of the greatest shocks in the tournament’s history after a goal from Edin Dzeko and a penalty by Daniele de Rossi had put Barca on the back foot at the Stadio