Rampant Roma stun Barcelona in Champions League shock
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 weeks 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 years competition.
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Former Manchester City striker Dzeko gave Roma early hope when he opened the scoring in the sixth minute. The Bosnia international ran onto a simple ball over the top and recovered from a poor first touch to poke past goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Roma had to wait until the 58th minute for their next goal but Dzeko was a central figure again, holding up the ball before being hauled to the ground by defender Gerard Pique. Midfielder De Rossi emphatically planted the penalty past Ter Stegen.
Greece defender Manolas stole the headlines when he headed the decisive goal seven minutes from time. He was first to reach Cengiz Unders corner from the right to the near post and nod past a stunned Barca rearguard.
Barcelona, led by Lionel Messi, had been expected to progress (Source: Getty)
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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