Barca looked like they didn’t know they were in for a fight.
In the 80th minute of last week’s match between AS Roma and Barcelona — the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal at Camp Nou — Edin Dzeko scored. It looked fairly inconsequential, with Barca up by three goals. The Blaugrana piled on one more afterwards, winning 4-1. But that one away goal proved to be decisive.
Incredibly, Roma has knocked Barcelona out of the Champions League. They completed one of the most improbable comebacks in the tournament’s history, progressing on away goals after a 4-4 aggregate draw. The Giallarossi were at their best on Tuesday night, beating Barcelona decisively at their home ground, 3-0.
Barca fell asleep on the opening goal, scored by Dzeko in the 6th minute. No one tracked his run off a long ball over the top by Daniele De Rossi, and Dzeko poked home from close range.
In the 58th minute, the Barcelona defense again failed to deal with a chipped ball that Dzeko ran onto. This time, instead of letting him score. Gerard Pique pulled him down by the arm. The referee gave a penalty, and De Rossi converted.
Roma’s winning goal came once again as the result of some terrible defending by the Blaugrana. Kostas Manolas was Roma’s hero, heading in a corner in the 82nd minute after a near post run that no one in a Barca shirt spotted.
The final eight minutes plus stoppage time were chaotic, but Roma’s defense held firm. Barcelona’s best chance was a long-range chip from Ousmane Dembele after he spotted Roma goalkeeper Alisson off his line, but the ball sailed over the crossbar.
