Roma’s Edin Dzeko is challenged by Barcelona’s Sergio Busquets
Edin Dzeko surprised a lot of people when he turned down a lucrative offer from Premier League champion Chelsea in January to stay with Roma.
Pledging his allegiance for Roma then, Dzeko declared that he was determined to accomplish something important with the Italian club.
Consider his desire realized.
Dzeko’s sheer will and brute force were the primary reasons behind Roma’s shocking elimination of Barcelona in the Champions League quarterfinals. The Bosnia and Herzegovina striker scored two goals and drew a penalty to set up another over the two legs as Roma clawed back from a three-goal deficit to advance to the semifinals.
“I stayed with Roma to experience matches like these. I’m happy to be with Roma and I think the club should be, too,” Dzeko said after Roma’s 3-0 win yesterday [Macau time] overturned a 4-1 first-leg defeat.
“I turned down a lot of money by not going to Chelsea but that’s not what I’m interested in. If we play like this we can play with anyone. I’ve never seen Barcelona in so much difficulty.”
Dzeko should know. He was on the Manchester City team that was eliminated by Barcelona in the last 16 in both 2014 and 2015.
Roma suffocated Barcelona with high pressure, prompting the Catalan club to make a series of errant passes and turnovers. Barcelona had no answer for the aerial abilities of Dzeko and fellow forward Patrik Schick, who was the revelation of the night.
Sparingly used previously this season due to a series of injuries, the 22-year-old Czech Republic striker had been set to join Juventus during the offseason but the deal collapsed because of a reported heart problem.
So Roma picked him up instead from Sampdoria, where Schick scored 11 Serie A goals last season.
Cengiz Under, another young attacking player, scored six goals for Roma in February and March and returned from injury by coming off the bench in the second leg.
The 20-year-old Turkey winger’s corner set up the header from Kostas Manolas that provided Roma’s third goal.
That came moments before Stephan El Shaarawy, another speedy and talented winger, was denied from close range.
In all, Roma is developing a wealth of options in attack that combine velocity and strength, and Roma coach Eusebio Di Francesco was hailed for his 3-4-1-2 formation.
“We had never tried it before but over just three days he got it into our heads,” said Roma captain Daniele De Rossi, who converted a penalty for Roma’s second goal. “After the first leg we saw that the gap between us and them wasn’t really all that large.”
Own-goals from De Rossi and Manolas handed Barcelona a 2-0 lead last week but Dzeko’s late consolation goal in that match proved decisive when Roma advanced on away goals.
Dzeko also scored the key goal when Roma eliminated Shakhtar Donetsk in the last 16. He has six goals in all in this season’s competition.
“The best is yet to come. The semifinal will be even greater,” Dzeko said.
“But of course, tonight is unforgettable,” Dzeko added. “I don’t have an adjective to describe it. Let’s just say it was a crazy match — incredible. Nobody believed in us.”
Roma fans celebrated throughout the night, waving flags and driving scooters around the central Piazza Venezia.
“Imperiali!” — Imperials — said the headline in yesterday’s Gazzetta dello Sport.
French sports daily L’Equipe labeled it a “Romantada” — a play on the Spanish word “remuntada,” which translates as comeback.
It’s the first time that Roma has reached the last four since it lost the 1984 final to Liverpool on penalties in its own stadium.
The semifinal draw is scheduled for Friday and so far the only other club which has advanced is Liverpool, which is spearheaded by former Roma striker Mohamed Salah.
While Roma keeps on surprising in the Champions League — see its 3-0 domination of Chelsea in the group stage — the Giallorossi have struggled in Serie A. Roma is fourth in the Italian league, a distant 21 points behind leader Juventus and level on points with Lazio entering Sunday’s Rome derby.
“Honestly I don’t know why we can’t transfer the mentality we have in the Champions League to Serie A,” said Dzeko, who led Serie A with 29 goals last season.
Still, this season already marks a turning point for Roma’s American ownership team led by Boston executive James Pallotta.
Roma has received preliminary approval to build a long-delayed new stadium with a design inspired by the Colosseum. The Champions League success might help speed up the stadium process — especially if Roma reaches the final in Kiev.
“We can’t think like we’ve achieved a miracle,” De Rossi said. “We’ve got to keep playing and try to go all the way.” Andrew Dampf, Rome, AP
Klopp saw off Man City and thought Barca collapse was a joke
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp and Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius celebrate in front of their side’s fans
Returning to the Liverpool dressing room, Juergen Klopp was savoring the unexpectedly smooth elimination of Manchester City.
Then the Liverpool manager was halted in his tracks.
There was even more stunning news from the Champions League.
Just like Liverpool, Barcelona started its quarterfinal second leg with a three-goal advantage.
Unlike Liverpool, Barcelona conceded at home the previous week.
It proved costly for Barcelona. Roma required a 3-0 victory to oust the Spanish league leaders, and it was improbably accomplished to advance 4-4 on away goals.
“I walked up the stairs and somebody told me,” Klopp said after Liverpool’s 5-1 aggregate win over City. “I really thought it was a joke. Not that I don’t respect Roma, the absolute opposite. They have a fantastic team. Edin Dzeko, wow.”
“They lost Mo Salah and they are in the semis,” Klopp said. “That’s quite a big thing.”
Klopp is fully aware of that. Liverpool is through to the semis in part thanks to Salah with his nine goals in 12 European matches — the latest in the 2-1 win at City yesterday.
Roma reluctantly sold Salah last June. But the need to comply with UEFA financial fair rules meant the Italian capital club cashed in on its biggest asset. For Liverpool, paying 42 million euros (then USD47 million) for the Egyptian forward now appears a bargain. It seemed more of a gamble at the time, given Salah had come off a season netting only once in his nine European fixture.
Now Salah’s 39-goal haul this season is on a par with Barcelona forward Lionel Messi. Only one of them has a shot at picking up the European Cup in Kiev next month.
What seems remarkable is that both sides who reached the quarterfinals are far off the pace in their domestic competitions.
Liverpool trails Pep Guardiola’s City in the Premier League by 17 points in third place. Roma is even worse off in Serie A, toiling away 21 points behind Juventus in fourth place.
At a time when UEFA is trying to address concerns about the levels of competition balance in its competitions, seeing Liverpool and Roma advance is a welcome tonic.
“This competition is quite fair,” Klopp said. “I really think a normal final would have been Manchester City against Barcelona, and now they are both out.”
The Italian leaders could join them on the Champions League scrapheap on Wednesday night, with Juventus trailing holder Real Madrid 3-0.
That could leave Bayern Munich as the sole league leader still in contention in Europe with the newly crowned Bundesliga champions holding a 2-1 advantage over Sevilla heading into today’s second leg. AP
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