Roma pulled off one of the biggest shocks in Champions League history last night when they overturned a three-goal first-leg deficit to reach the semi-finals at the expense of Barcelona.
Trailing 4-1 from last week’s match at Camp Nou, the unfancied Italians won 3-0 through strikes from Edin Dzeko, Daniele de Rossi and Kostas Manolas to level the tie on aggregate and progress on away goals.
They are only the third team ever to win a Champions League knockout tie having lost the first leg by such a large margin. Barcelona were the most recent to do so, ousting Paris Saint-Germain 6-1 in an extraordinary second leg during last y
ear’s competition.
Roma, who lie fourth in Serie A, qualified from the group stages at the expense of Chelsea and ahead of Atletico Madrid but were given little chance of prolonging their Champions League campaign after their mauling in Barcelona.
Yet the Catalan outfit, runaway leaders in the Spanish top flight, could find no response despite the presence of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele.
Dembele went close to crucial away goal but his 40-yard effort towards an unguarded net, following confusion in the Roma ranks, sailed over the bar.
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