BARCA CRASH OUT AS ROMA PULL OFF A MIRACLE
THE miracle comeback happened but it happened in Rome. Barcelona delivered their worst performance of the season and crashed out of the Champions League on away goals. Former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko was the hero. He got the first on the night and it was his away goal at the Nou Camp last week that sent Roma through on an extraordinary evening at the Olympic Stadium. Barcelona fell behind after just six minutes when Daniele De Rossi lofted a perfect pass from deep midfield into the path of Dzeko and after a couple of touches he put it past Marc Andre ter Stegen. The Catalans were stunned, Roma had the start they wanted. Barcelona were lumping the ball forward to relieve the pressure. They did not commit a single foul in the first 20 minutes — Roma committed six. The home side were pumped up and no one more than captain De Rossi, who had played the pass for the opener. Barca’s Lionel Messi was having to chase back and close Roma players down in his own half and Luis Suarez was feeding off scraps up front alone. In the second half things got worse for Barcelona. And again it was a ball over the top for Dzeko to chase that was their undoing. With the Roma forward shaping to shoot, Gerard Pique wrestled him to the ground to conceded one of the season’s clearest penalties. Pique was booked and De Rossi stepped up to drill the penalty past Ter Stegen. Andres Iniesta was then chopped down by Federico Fazio and it really should have led to a booking. Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde was furious in his technical area and pursued the fourth official. He should have been thinking about what to change because Barcelona were in trouble. Proof of that came when Messi had to take a yellow card for a trip on Aleksandar Kolarov to prevent another Roma attack. And more proof came when Suarez was cautioned for timewasting. The Italians looked stronger than their tired opponents although Barcelona broke and Iniesta found Messi, only for Alisson to save his shot. It was but a temporary respite for Barcelona as Roma made it 3-0 when Manolas glanced home.
ROMA: Alisson, Manolas, Fazio, Juan Jesus, Florenzi, Nainggolan (El Shaarawy 76), De Rossi, Strootman, Kolarov, Dzeko, Schick (Under 72). Goals: Dzeko 6,De Rossi 58 pen, Manolas 82. BARCELONA: ter Stegen, Nelson Semedo (Dembele 85), Pique, Umtiti, Jordi Alba, Sergi Roberto, Rakitic, ergio Busquets (Alcacer 85), Iniesta (Andre Gomes 81), Messi, Luis Suarez. Booked: Messi, Pique, Luis Suarez. Referee: Clement Turpin (France).