Thomas Vermaelen was sent off on his debut, but Roma earned a 1-1 draw away to Porto when down to 10 men.
See how it all unfolded and give your views on the LIVEBLOG.
Thomas Vermaelen was sent off on his debut, but Roma earned a 1-1 draw away to Porto when down to 10 men.
See how it all unfolded and give your views on the LIVEBLOG.
The Giallorossi went into the first leg of their first ever Champions League preliminary round. Thomas Vermaelen, Alisson Becker and Juan Jesus got their competitive debuts, but Antonio Rudiger and Mario Rui were injured. New buy Bruno Peres should be available for the second leg next week. Porto had played one official game so far this season, but had made many changes over the summer.
Mohamed Salah wasted a couple of early chances and Alisson gifted Andre Andre an opportunity, fired over the bar, with a terrible clearance.
Edin Dzeko pounced on a triple defensive error, but Alex Telles rushed back for a decisive goal-line clearance from eight yards.
Roma got a bit of luck to make their dominance count, as Salah’s corner from the right bounced in off the knee of Porto defender Felipe.
Moments later, Porto almost got their equaliser on the counter, but Alisson was fortunate his poor parry on Andre Silva was ballooned over by Otavio on the rebound.
Casillas needed a triple save on Salah, Radja Nainggolan and the Egyptian again, but Otavio ran rings around Alessandro Florenzi and Daniele De Rossi to fire wide of the far top corner from a tight angle.
Porto gained more confidence as the half wore on and a long ball caught out Vermaelen who, already booked, went in with a high foot on Andre Silva. The defender on loan from Barcelona was sent off 41 minutes into his competitive Roma debut.
Spalletti opted to remove Perotti, introducing Emerson Palmieri at left-back and moving Juan Jesus into the centre. On the stroke of half-time Andre Andre had penalty appeals waved away.
There was chaos after the restart, as Andre Silva had the ball in the net, but after a long consultation with his assistants, the referee disallowed the goal. Adrian Lopez’s initial shot had ricocheted off Florenzi and back on to Lopez, possibly off his arm, so the final touch was from a Porto player to activate the offside trap.
Moments later Andre Silva missed a sitter, nodding wide from eight yards, while Alisson fingertipped a Telles cross-shot over the bar.
There was controversy when the resulting corner struck Emerson Palmieri on the elbow and a harsh penalty was awarded, as it did not seem to be in any way voluntary. Andre Silva converted to draw Porto level.
The hosts were now dominant and pinning the 10 Giallorossi players back into their own half. Felipe’s free header whistled just wide of the near post from one of dozens of corners.
Daniele De Rossi made a series of crucial blocks and was carrying the makeshift defence on his shoulders as time wore on. Otavio got round Juan Jesus, but his glancing header was straight at Alisson, while Andre Silva prodded a dangerous effort wide from close range.
There was an ugly scuffle in stoppages featuring Maxi Pereira, but for some reason De Rossi was booked when he was trying to pull players apart in the melee. Roma had the final chance, a Leandro Paredes deflected free kick held by Casillas.
Porto 1-1 Roma
Felipe og 21 (R), Andre Silva pen 61 (P)
Porto: Casillas; Maxi, Felipe, Marcano, Telles; Danilo; Herrera, Andre Andre (Layun 66), Otavio (Evandro 84), Adrian Lopez (Jesus Corona 76); Andre Silva
Roma: Alisson; Florenzi (Paredes 84), Manolas, Vermaelen, Jesus; Nainggolan, De Rossi, Strootman; Salah (Fazio 76), Dzeko, Perotti (Emerson Palmieri 44)
Ref: Kuipers (NED)
Sent off: Vermaelen 41 (R)