Barcelona 2-4 AS Roma
Three goals in eight minutes gave Roma a spectacular victory at the AT&T Stadium as the Serie A side came from behind to beat Barcelona.
Almost 55,000 US soccer fans headed to watch the ICC 2018 showdown hoping for a battle royal…and boy did they get one. We expected some bite in this game after Barca have recently signed Bordeaux midfielder Malcom right under the noses of Roma when Eusebio Di Francesco thought he had agreed on a deal.
So this triumph, and the manner of it, will have tasted very sweet indeed for Di Francesco and his team. The pre-match SBOBET predictions backed a Roma win at 2.34, though it looked very unlikely midway through the second half. However, the Italians roared back to stun the Catalans with a late and lethal onslaught.
Highlights of the game
Barca were on the front foot from the off, passing the ball around with intent, and went ahead after just six minutes when Munir El Haddadi found Rafinha in space for the Brazilian midfielder to slam the ball home.
El Haddadi continued to cause problems with his pace and direct running, but at the other end, Justin Kluivert was equally impressive. The £15-million young winger from Ajax looks set to follow in the illustrious footsteps of his dad, Patrick Kluivert, and has a bright future ahead of him. And after he’d had a shot blocked, he crossed for Stephen El Shaarawy to slot home the equaliser.
Spurs had given Roma a lesson last week, beating them 4-1, and it looked like they could be on the end of another hiding when Barcelona went 2-1 up early in the second half. Certainly, ICC 2018 betting had shifted in favour of the Catalans.
And who was on the end of Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla’s cross for a nice easy tap in? Yep, you’ve guessed it…Malcom!
Four minutes later, the Barca man almost added insult to injury with a free-kick that flew just over the bar. And then on 57 minutes, his low shot was denied by a smart save.
Ernesto Valverde had seen enough of his new star and took him off on the hour.
But he may wish he hadn’t as Roma came roaring back. Substitute Diego Perotti got the Italians going, putting in Alessandro Florenzi for the equaliser with just 12 minutes left on the clock.
Alex Collado and Abel Ruiz both spurned chances for Barcelona, and they are undoubtedly regretting their lack of finishing after seeing Roma take the lead five minutes after the equaliser. Luca Pellegrini found Bryan Cristante in space and the midfielder shot low and hard into the net to make it 3-2.
And the game was up for the Catalans when Monchu fouled Patrik Schick in the box and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Up stepped Perotti to smash the ball down the middle and high into the net.
Barcelona are apparently interested in signing out of favour Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, and on this evidence, that may not be such a bad idea!
Key statistics
Barca dominated long periods of the game and enjoyed 70 percent possession, unleashing 21 attempts on goal to Roma’s 13, though the on-target stats are more even at seven to six in Barcelona’s favour.
With a passing accuracy of 91 percent, Barca’s ball retention was highly impressive compared to Roma’s 77 percent, but it’s what you do with the ball that matters.
Valverde’s team is still without a win in the tournament (without the aid of penalties), while Roma’s ICC 2018 results were okay with one win and one defeat.
But hey, if you have already placed a football bet on Barca to defend their league title, don’t panic just yet!
Three goals in the last quarter of the game took this away from Barca and may have made Malcom wonder, just for a moment, what he’ll be missing in Rome. Then he’ll remember he’s going to be lining up alongside Lionel Messi at the Camp Nou.
We thought there might be some tasty tackles flying in, but it didn’t get out of hand with 22 fouls in total. Three yellow cards are unusual for a friendly though.
What’s next?
Next up, Barca play Milan before launching their defence of La Liga. I wonder if Messi will miss his old nemesis Cristiano Ronaldo?!
I don’t think Roma will mind Ronny has gone to Juventus just yet; their next fixture is against Real Madrid at the Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford. But they’d better be ready when they visit Turin in Serie A.
Both teams finished last season with a 1-0 win, and they’d take that to get off the mark for the 2018/19 campaign.
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