Tuesday evening the match between Rome and Barcelona, valid for the quarter-finals of the Champions League, was an important event for women’s football in Italy. It was the first official women’s match at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, where until now they had only been played for charity or in other unofficial settings. The 39,454 spectators present in the stands (subscribers and paying) then established a new one attendance records for a women’s match in Italy, exceeding the 39,027 (non-paying) Juventus-Fiorentina match on 24 March 2019.
It was the first leg of the quarter-finals, which Roma reached in their first participation in the Champions League, obtained thanks to the second place in the last championship. Barcelona, champions of Spain and Europe two years ago, were favorites and proved it on the pitch, especially in the first half, managing to win 1-0.
Roma, for its part, have shown that they can largely hold their own against one of the strongest teams in Europe and in the second half they were several times close to equalizing, especially with the chances given by Valentina Giacinti, Andressa Alves and Manuela Giugliano. The latter was also the first “number 10” to play at the Olimpico for Roma after Francesco Totti’s retirement.
Roma’s starting line-up (Paolo Bruno/Getty Images)
Three-quarters of the Olimpico was open (only the northern curve remained closed) and those three-quarters were almost completely filled by over 39,000 people: there were a few dozen Barcelona fans, the rest Roman fans, including normal ticket-payers (tickets they started from 5 euros) and season ticket holders for men’s Roma who were able to watch the match for free for the occasion.
The 1-0 draw still makes it possible to qualify, and the second leg will be another rather significant event for Roma, because it will be played at the Camp Nou in Barcelona, which for some years has already been completely filled when the women’s team plays, often just for the Champions League.
At the same time, in the championship, Roma started the playoffs which will award the Scudetto with a large 5-1 victory against Fiorentina. Thus he remains in first place with 8 points behind Juventus and if he maintains this advantage he can think of winning his first Scudetto in advance. He will then have to play his third consecutive Coppa Italia final, again against Juventus.
– Read also: In women’s football it’s Rome’s moment