THE Uefa Champions League has often spelt trouble for AS Roma in recent seasons but their 3-0 win over Chelsea went a long way towards mending their previously unhappy relationship with the competition.
Roma had won only three of their previous 19 matches in the competition before Tuesday’s game.
Their poor series of results included a 7-1 home defeat by Bayern Munich, a 6-1 thumping at Barcelona and a 3-0 home defeat by Porto, which cost them a place in last season’s group stage.
Go further back and a 7-1 defeat to Manchester United also sticks in the memory.
“We said in the dressing-room before the match that we have not had many great nights in the Champions League and that there have been quite a few where we have been battered,” captain Daniele De Rossi said.
“Few believed in us but we are top of the group and deservedly so. But we don’t win matches like this so we can take photos and put them on the mantelpiece – we must push on from here.”
Roma lead Group C with eight points from four games and are one win away from a place in the Last 16, proving that opinions can change very quickly in football. –
