Roma

It’s no secret: as Messi goes, so too does Barcelona. Accordingly, the Catalan side’s shock elimination to Roma in the Champions League quarterfinals — Roma pulling off an incredible three-goal comeback to win 4-4 on aggregate via an away goal — isn’t all that shocking.

Who are we kidding, it's f*cking insane.  

The Italian side nullified the world’s best player over 180 minutes of action and thoroughly outplayed the runaway La Liga leaders at the Stadio Olimpico on Tuesday night. 

Real Madrid smashed Juventus 3-0. Bayern Munich got past Sevilla 2-1 on the road. Barcelona played like shit and still beat Roma 4-1.

If you would’ve offered AS Roma manager Eusebio Di Francesco a Camp Nou first leg in which Lionel Messi is limited to naught, Di Francesco probably would’ve broken your hand in agreement. And then you’d have to inform him that his side would still lose 4-1. 

Roma still have an opportunity to shock the world at the Stadio Olimpico in the return leg thanks to Eden Dzeko’s conciliatory away goal, but the club from the Eternal City is more realistically doomed after conceding four goals to a superior opponent. 

When Barcelona drew Roma in the Champions League quarterfinals back on March 16, many penciled the LaLiga leaders straight through to the semis. This is, after all, Barcelona’s 11th consecutive appearance at the quarterfinal stage. For Roma, it’s their first in 10 years. If you want to place a bet on Roma winning the first leg at the Camp Nou, you’ll get 14-1 odds on that punt.

AS Roma did just enough to overturn their deficit against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League Round of 16 on Tuesday, Edin Dzeko scoring the lone goal in the 52nd minute to put Roma through via the away goals rule, 2-2 on aggregate.

Shakhtar went about their business professionally in the opening 45, looking dangerous on the counter and assured in possession while Roma struggled to generate any chances of note.

This Francesco Totti goal will bring nostalgic tears to your eyes. Remember that majestic Italian player who retired only recently?

Francesco Totti was one of those players who gave the beautiful game all of its romantic allure.

Totti never played for another team different than Roma. He holds the record of most appearances for the club with a total of 786 in all competitions, 619 of them in Serie A.

Moreover, he was unquestionably one of the most talented players of his generation.

Serie A returned after a short winter break and everything seemed to go according to plan. Napoli won. Juventus won. Benevento lost. Pretty much par for the course.

Winter has arrived. The traditional Serie A winter break has been pushed back a few weeks to accommodate an “English-style” festive period. Now, with January in full fling, the clubs are taking a bit of time off to recover. So, naturally, it’s time to think about Serie A transfers.

Last week, Serie A news revolved around goals. Goals change games was the mantra. After Juventus beat Napoli, it seemed like it was all change at the top of the table.

Instead, many of this week’s most important matches were goalless. Not bad, as such, but not quite the high scoring affairs we’d hoped for.