– Of Federico Castiglioni
Roma’s journey in the Champions League ends in the quarter-finals under the blows of an opponent who is too much stronger.
– In front of the 54,000 Camp Nou, the girls from Spugna they give way to the vice-champions of Europe in a match that did not disregard the forecast. Game never in questionwhere Barça’s overwhelming superiority did not allow the Giallorossi to replicate the courageous, and in some ways unfortunate, performance of the Olimpico;
– Although the narrow defeat in the first leg left all scenarios open, it was known that going to overturn the result at the Blaugrana was a titanic undertaking, out of reach for almost every team in Europe. All the more for Roma, the Cinderella of these UWCL quarterfinals, the only one among the eight qualified to have reached this point of the competition for the first time. The satisfaction of having played these fields remains, in addition to the small gratification of having scored at least the goal of the flag (signed Serturini) against a Barcelona side who had so far conceded 11 all season;
– Spugna’s idea, perhaps the only viable one, was to re-propose the tactical plan of the first leg: relinquish possession, form a square in front of their own goal, and try to hit the wide spaces that the Catalans allow behind their backs . Idea that also seemed to work in the first few minutes. If Hansen immediately called Ceasar (undisputed protagonist at the Olimpico) to intervene, in the eighth it was Serturini who tried to finalize a restart with a shot around the far post, just wide. But two minutes later full-back Rolfö put Barca ahead at the end of a long development, and here the hopes of performing a miracle plummeted towards zero;
– Roma hold the punch overall for half an hour, in which Barca in dominating the pitch have to manage a remarkable competitive intensity from the Giallorossi, still mentally in the match and still capable of showing themselves forward. However, the knockout comes in the 33rd minute with a splendid shot from outside Mapi León, who almost from a standstill unloads a powerful left foot surprising Caesar. Hence the technical and physical mismatch between the two teams is revealed in all its breadth. Hyacinths and his companions disband, while Barça’s rhythms become unsustainable, and Roma ended up conceding two goals, perhaps avoidable, at the turn of the interval. Rolfö again in injury time and Oshoala in the first half of the second half: a display of power for the Blaugrana, but also a symptom of a team that has pulled the plug;
– With the game already largely closed, the Catalans’ manita from a corner arrives in the 53rd minute, with Guijarro’s goring, followed five minutes later by Serturini’s blitz on the counterattack. The match has little to add, with Barça on several occasions close to the sixth goal but gradually taking their foot off the accelerator. In the end, Spugna doesn’t have much to complain about his players, except for a sooner or later inevitable blackout over 180 minutes played at very high voltage. Wanting to make fleas to the coach, he paid little for the emotional choice of rewarding the former Blaugrana captain Vicky Losada, who arrived in Rome in January via Manchester City, with the starting shirt. Now for Roma the head returns to Serie A, which still sees the Giallorossi leading by +5 from Juventus with one match left. And that of unstitch the Scudetto from the chest of the black and whites yes, it is another adventure that smacks of enterprise, but for the Spugna gang it is something decidedly within reach.