This morning’s Mundo Deportivo describes it as “the fall of Rome”. Barcelona, beaten 3-0 by Roma last night to crash out of the Champions League.
After a 4-1 first leg defeat in the Camp Nou it looked as though the Giallorossi were heading out, but they turned it around on a sensation night at the Stadio Olimpico.
While the reaction in Italy has been unsurprisingly euphoric, the recriminations have already begun in Spain.
This morning’s Mundo Deportivo describes it as “the fall of Rome”. Barcelona, beaten 3-0 by Roma last night to crash out of the Champions League.
After a 4-1 first leg defeat in the Camp Nou it looked as though the Giallorossi were heading out, but they turned it around on a sensation night at the Stadio Olimpico.
While the reaction in Italy has been unsurprisingly euphoric, the recriminations have already begun in Spain.
Catalan daily Sport called the draw against Roma a “bon-bon”, or a treat, when the draw was made, noting that Barça got “the draw they wanted”.
Today the newspaper leads with “Barça collapse in Rome”. The match report calls it “a calamitous game, in which Valverde’s men didn’t know how to stop their rivals, who were much more intense, aggressive and clairvoyant in the game”.
A leader on the newspaper’s website asks “Who is to blame for Barça’s failure in the Champions League?”, demanding to find “the culprit for the debacle”.
Marca calls last night “the fall of the Barça empire” noting “the worst thing is it was a fair result. Barça played a horrible game, without defence or attack, and were unable to combat the directness or the heart of Roma”.
The newspaper warns the Blaugrana “have been playing like this for a while”, getting by with solid defence and Lionel Messi’s brilliance.
“This time the team was not solid, and didn’t have Messi to pull them out of the quagmire. The fall of the Blaugrana empire”.
El Mundo Deportivo calls it “a historic debacle for Barça in Rome”, while praising Roma’s “incredible comeback”.
Daniele De Rossi and Kostas Manolas, who scored own-goals in the first leg, “were redeemed yesterday becoming the executioners of Barça”.