Barcelona Humiliated in Rome

Those mighty La Liga leaders from Catalonia deservedly left Rome with heads hung low as they returned home after an epic loss.

That's not exactly what Barcelona was anticipating after pasting AS Roma, 4-1, in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

But the second leg ... how do they say?

 

That works.

Too spicy for the Blaugrana. They've not been shellacked like that by an Italian side since 1994.

It's an understatement to say Roma was ready for this one, erasing a three-goal deficit on in their home ground. That also meant dudes came out of it with an improbable victory, drawing the home-&-home at 4-4 on aggregate and winning by one away goals.

 

Who would've thought that Barça would give up a three-goal lead at any level?

Maybe they're leaning on past success a little too much.

 

Roma were quick with their response to Barça's first-leg dominance as Edin Dzeko knocked one home in the sixth minute:

The ambush was on.

Dudes kept poking the Barça defense for most of the first half, and it eventually paid off in early in the second when loyal Daniele de Rossi converted a rightfully given penalty:

Living up to their billing as La Magica -- the Magic Ones -- Roma looked every bit of a club set on making history, giving their venerable old Stadio Olympio one more memory before making way for the glistening new Stadio della Roma, set for unveiling in 2020.

It was just a matter of time before the breakthrough, and the momemt came in the 82nd minute when Kostas Manolas headed the whole of Rome to victory from what looked to be an impossible angle:

 

Indeed.

There could be no argument.

Currently, UEFA has Italy ranked third in its club competitions coefficient, which determines which associations get how many slots in the Champions League, among other things.

The top four nations each get four entries:

AS Roma is currently sitting fourth in Serie A by one point:

They'd clearly prefer an automatic berth, but there's work to be done in that regard. They'll know more about how much after the semi-final draw this coming Friday.

After their demolition of Barcelona, though, there's little doubt about their potential to do it.