Daniele De Rossi calls for “sacrifice” from his Roma teammates to stop Lionel Messi and Barcelona.
Barcelona have won just one of their past six matches in Italy, beating AC Milan 3-2 in the 2011/12 group stages, and won only six of their 20 away matches against Serie A sides.
He said: “We look forward to confronting a great club like Barcelona”.
Ever since the European Cup was handed a fresh format to become the Champions League in 1992-93, no player has dominated the continental competition like Leo.
Barcelona drew in Group E with AS Roma, BATE Borisov and Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Since gaining admission to the Champions League, four years ago, they have been pitted against Bayern Munich and Barcelona on a regular basis, and despite some determined performances, have generally been found out at the highest level. – Roberto Mancini was fired because of this competition and Manuel Pellegrini was hired based on what he has done in it. Man City have performed very well in games at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich but the fact remains that their last four seasons in the Champions League have not been good enough.
Just when a Real-Barça final looked set to happen last season, Juventus shocked the Madrid side in the last four. Wolfsburg, quarter-finalists in the Europa League last season, are on a 24-match unbeaten run in the Bundesliga at home. It’s an area which many feel has undermined them in the past but that’s where their new boss will really earn his corn and his record suggests he’s more than capable of creating a solid unit. Shakhtar, who had their five-year reign in Ukraine ended by Dynamo Kiev last season, are featuring in the group stage for the 11th time after knocking off Austrians Rapid Vienna in the play-off round, having already seen off Turkish outfit Fenerbahce in the previous round.
“The Pole, who has established himself as the number one at the Stadio Olimpico since joining the club on a season-long loan from Arsenal, confirmed that his team will be going for all three points when they take on Luis Enrique’s side”.
After finishing fourth in La Liga last season, Valencia had to go through the playoff round to qualify for the group stage. Before that they played in February 2002 and Roma won that game 2 – 0.
Among all that familiarity, Astana are breaking new ground as the first team from Kazakhstan to take part, in Group C along with Benfica, Galatasaray and Atletico Madrid. This summer when some expected the Swede to do what he often does and leave a team after his third season there were whispers of him returning home and playing in Malmo, where he started his professional career back in 1999. Tactically, they’re teams that defend well and it’s not easy to score against them.
The Giallorossi face the holders in the Champions League tomorrow, and the Italian worldwide acknowledges the hard task they face.
“It was a odd season, where Enrique was in charge, where we were under a lot of pressure”.
Dzeko is bigger and stronger than virtually anyone on the Barca defense, one which may be missing Thomas Vermaelen to boot, so if Roma can stymie the Barcelona midfield, Dzeko’s physicality in the box and skill in front of the goal could be the deciding factor.
United captain Wayne Rooney will miss the match with a hamstring injury but both sets of fans will have a close eye on Memphis Depay, who was brought to Old Trafford in the offseason from PSV with United fans comparing the 21-year-old’s flair, electrifying pace and eye for goal to that of Cristiano Ronaldo.