Roma send Barcelona crashing out of Champions League in 3-0 win

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Italian football club Roma pulled off an astonishing comeback in their 3-0 UEFA Champions League quarterfinal win against Barcelona, knocking the Spanish giants out of the competition.

Goals from Edin Dzeko, Daniele De Rossi, and Konstantinos Manolas meant the two-leg quarterfinal ended 4-4 on aggregate. Roma had scored a crucial away goal in their 4-1 first-leg loss in Spain last week.

Roma’s manager Eusebio Di Francesco said his side had to “produce a miracle” if they wanted to overturn their heavy deficit in the first-leg.

“We have to believe in something important and go for it with great love and passion,” he said in his pre-match briefing then. “They will play their best to confirm the result, but we can also produce a miracle.”

Meanwhile, the day’s second match between Premier League clubs Manchester City and Liverpool ended 2-1 in favor of the Reds who completed a 5-1 aggregate win against their English rivals.

Manchester City opened the scoring early through Gabriel Jesus who scored within two minutes of the first half. Liverpool talisman Mohamed Salah struck the equalizer in the 56th minute before Roberto Firmino added a second in the 77th.

The loss is Manchester City’s third in a row in one week following a derby defeat to league rivals Manchester United over the weekend sandwiched between their losses against Liverpool in the Champions League.

The remaining two matches in the Champions League quarterfinal will be played tomorrow with Juventus hoping they can emulate fellow Italian club Roma and overturn their 3-0 first-leg loss to holders Real Madrid.

Bayern Munich, meanwhile, welcome Sevilla to the Allianz Arena. The Germans lead 2-1 on aggregate.

All games will be played at 9:45 p.m. Erbil time.