Roma’s captain, Daniele De Rossi, praised the coach, Eusebio Di Francesco, after his side completed a remarkable comeback against Barcelo...
Roma’s captain, Daniele De Rossi, praised the coach, Eusebio Di Francesco, after his side completed a remarkable comeback against Barcelona to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Trailing 4-1 from the first leg after a De Rossi own goal, they made a flying start with Edin Dzeko’s opener. The captain’s penalty in the 58th minute set up a frantic finale at the Stadio Olimpico before Kostas Manolos sealed the victory on away goals with a header eight minutes from time. It meant Roma have reached the last four for the first time since 1984 as Barcelona became only the third team in Champions League history to surrender a three-goal lead.
“What a night. This is a great result for us and for our history,” said De Rossi. “The important thing is that we continue like this. We haven’t accomplished anything yet as there are still many games to go. Even if we lost the first-leg game, we were confident with the way we had played and it showed tonight.
“The difference for me was Di Francesco as he helped us play the right way. He changed a lot of things and he got it spot on. I am happy for the coaches and for my team-mates. We did great. This is also very important for me too as I am 34 years old. This win is one of the best I have ever experienced since joining Roma.”
Ernesto Valverde’s side were swamped by Roma’s high pressing and struggled to get hold of the ball as they were bullied in the air by the more physical Italian side, who inflicted the damage with long balls over the top and frequent crosses.
The visitors’ Sergi Roberto squandered the first chance of the game but after that Barcelona struggled to respond to Roma’s constant waves of attack until the substitute Ousmane Dembélé whistled a long-range shot just over the bar in added time.
“We weren’t capable in any moment of getting in the game because of how they approached the game,” said Barça’s coach, Valverde. “They were very strong with second balls and we aren’t used to defending like that.”
The runaway La Liga leaders had not lost in the Champions League this season until visiting Rome but slumped out at the quarter-final stage for the third year in a row after being eliminated by Juventus last season and Atlético Madrid in 2016.
“It’s difficult to accept this elimination because we had a lot of hope for this season and once again it has escaped us,” said Andrés Iniesta. “It’s really tough. It seems untrue. Very hard to accept. With the advantage we had we went out because we really did things badly. The Champions League punishes you for that.
“It’s a possibility that this might be my last game in the Champions League but right now this is hard for all the team, all of us. We so wanted to win this tournament but we’ve failed to do so again.”
Barcelona’s president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, appealed for supporters to get behind their team despite failing to reach the semi-finals for the third successive season.
He wrote on Twitter: “Being knocked out of the Champions League is a very tough blow for all Barça fans. But it is now when the supporters, coaches and players have to be more united than ever.”
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