April 10 (UPI) — AS Roma completed a shocking upset of FC Barcelona Tuesday, knocking the La Liga power out of the Champions League with a 3-0 victory at Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Barcelona won the first leg of the quarterfinal matchup 4-1 on April 4, meaning the teams tied 4-4 in aggregate goals. But Roma advanced because it scored more goals on the road.
Lionel Messi’s squad was also knocked out in the quarterfinal round last year to Juventus.
Barcelona lost to Atletico Madrid in the 2015-2016 quarterfinal after winning its fifth Champions League title during the 2014-2015 tournament.
Roma began its scoring spree just six minutes into Tuesday’s clash. Edin Dzeko took a long overhead pass from Alessandro Florenzi during the play. He settled the ball and touched it past Marc-Andre ter Stegen with his left foot.
The Seria A squad took a 1-0 lead into halftime before adding on. Daniele De Rossi gave Roma a 2-0 lead in the 58th minute on a penalty kick after Gerard Pique was whistled for a foul.
Roma got its final goal in the 82nd minute from Kostas Manolas. The Greek defender ran onto a corner kick from Aleksandar Kolarov on that play. Kolarov sent the in-swinger to the near post from the right side. Manolas ran toward the offering and was able to flick it across the face of the goal and into the far post netting, beating Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
“We are sorry for the fans,” Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde said after the loss. “Now we have to carry on and focus on what’s left for us”
The Champions League semifinal draw occurs on Friday. Liverpool also advanced on Tuesday. Real Madrid battles Juventus and Bayern Munich faces Sevilla on Wednesday for a chance to advance to the next round.
Barcelona resumes play at 10:15 a.m. Saturday with a La Liga affair against Valencia at Camp Nou in Barcelona.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.