Alessandro Florenzi (R) stunned the home Roma crowd with a wonderstrike. (Getty)
Final Score
Roma 1-0 — 1
Barcelona 1-0 — 1
Alessandro Florenzi scored one of the goals of the season in the 31st minute, which earned Roma a 1-1 draw against Barcelona in the opening round of Champions League fixtures at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday night.
Florenzi lobbed Barcelona goalie Marc-Andre Ter Stegen from near the halfway line to cancel out Luis Suarez’s early header. Aside from the stunning goal, the game was largely dour as Barcelona were unable to break down the Roma defense in the second half.
There were just six shots on target in the 90 minutes. Bayer Leverkusen beat BATE Borisov 4-1 in the other match in Group E
Check below for stats and highlights of the match:
Stats
Goals: Roma; Alessandro Florenzi (31′); Barcelona: Luis Suarez (21′)
Shots (On Goal): Roma 8 (3 on goal), Barcelona 16 (3 on goal)
Tackles: Roma 20, Barcelona 15
Fouls: Roma 9, Barcelona 4
Possession: Roma 24%, Barcelona 76%
Cards: Roma: Radja Nainggolan (63′); Barcelona: Gerard Pique (75′)
Attendance: 57,836
Lineups
Roma: Florenzi, Rüdiger, Manolas, Digne; Nainggolan, De Rossi, Keita; Falqué, Džeko, Salah.
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Piqué, Mathieu, Alba; Rakitić, Busquets, Iniesta; Suárez, Messi, Neymar.
Luis Suarez Gave Barcelona a 1-0 Lead With a Header
After a quiet opening 20 minutes, Barcelona struck in a flash to take the lead. Ivan Rakitic provided the cross to Luis Suarez, who finished with his head. The goal came on the first shot on target for either team.
Alessandro Florenzi Scored a Stunner to Get Roma Back on Level Terms
Roma midfielder Alessandro Florenzi cross the halfway line before lobbing Marc-Andre ter Stegen for the goal. It was Florenzi’s second goal of the season.
Roma Had a Penalty Shout in the 2nd Half
Radja Nainggolan appeared to be brought down in the box, but a penalty was not given to the disbelief of the Roma bench.
24-year-old midfielder Alessandro Florenzi lobbed Barcelona keeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen from close to the halfway line to level the match at 1-1. The stunning strike was the second of the season for the Italian international.
Preview: Barcelona Set to Begin Champions League Defense
Lionel Messi fired the winner as a rare substitute against Atletico Madrid. (Getty)
Firsts are hard to come by for Barcelona at this point. They’ve won every competition possible multiple times and are on top of the soccer world after winning the treble last year. One thing they have yet to do, however, is defeat AS Roma in a competitive match.
Barcelona and Roma have only met twice; in the 2001/02 group stages. Roma won 3-0 and drew 1-1, but Barcelona still topped the group and advanced to the semifinals that season.
They meet again on Wednesday in the first round of Champions League fixtures.
Roma reached the group stages in last year’s competition, but placed third in a group with Bayern Munich and Manchester City. Roma last reached the knockout stages in 2010/11.