Roma shocked the world on Tuesday night as they completed one of the great Champions League comebacks in history by beating Barcelona 3-0, going through to the semi-finals on away goals.
Barcelona simply could not compete with the Italians’ physicality as Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi were outmuscled and out-thought by the likes of Kevin Strootman and Daniele De Rossi.
Edin Dzeko and a De Rossi penalty gave the visitors jitters before defender Kostas Manolas finished the job.
Barca’s ratings make for grim reading …
STARTING XI
Marc-Andre ter Stegen 8 – Repelled Dzeko, Nainggolan and Schick and was ultra-quick off his line. El Shaarawy near the end too, but wasn’t enough.
Nelson Semedo 4 – Clearly rattled under pressure and has a tendency to make poor decisions in dangerous areas.
Gerard Pique 4 – Earns one point alone for his superb last-ditch block on Schick in first half. But foul on Dzeko for the penalty was inexplicable.
Samuel Umtiti 3 – In no man’s land for the opener and his jitters noticeably transferred across the back-line. Another poor performance
Jordi Alba 5 – Was always going to lose the battle against powerful attackers, but was the most convincing piece of Barca’s ill-fitting jigsaw.
Sergi Roberto 4 – Offered nothing going forward and afforded little protection down his flank. Surely Dembele would have been a better option.
Ivan Rakitic 5 – The only Barca player to give any thrust but even that faded after the opening stages, as Roma never wavered.
Sergio Busquets 4 – Metronomic midfielder was knocked around and made little impact up against Roma’s energy.
Andres Iniesta 3 – Ran down several blind alleys and could do nothing to prevent the red tide.
Lionel Messi 4 – Who can remember the little wizard playing as badly as this? Hounded all night by Nainggolan, Strootman and De Rossi.
Luis Suarez 3 – Did a lot of pouting to very little effect, though was isolated given Roma’s midfield dominance.
SUBSTITUTES
Ousmane Dembele NA – Far too little, far too late in last five minutes. Where was he when Barca needed to turn the tide?
Andre Gomes NA – Story is more about Iniesta being taken off in last 10 minutes – shows how ineffective the captain was.
Paco Alcacer NA – A last frantic roll of the dice, but Alcacer is not a guy who turns up double sixes.