Roma will probably feel they drew the short straw in the Champions League quarter-final draw held on Friday 16 March at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. Then again there really is no such thing as an easy opponent at this stage of the competition.
For those of you who fancy Roma to pull off an unlikely upset it may just be worth taking a cheeky punt. Check out these promotions from Betvictor to get yourself a good price.
The Serie A outfit will be looking to their star names for inspiration against the La Liga leaders.
One such name will be Cengiz Under.
Despite being the youngest player in the team, Under has been demonstrating why Monchi put such faith in him after signing the Turkey international as Mohamed Salah’s replacement.
Turkish-Football quoted Under as saying: “They signed me as Salah’s replacement so I am here to play. I could not believe the transfer happened so quickly.
“We were in other talks with Man City, then I got a call from my agent who said ‘the Roma deal is done’, I couldn’t sleep that night.”
The 20-year-old has six goals and an assist since February, scoring away to Napoli and against Shakhtar Donetsk on his Champions League debut.
In fact the reason Roma made it to the quarter-finals was after beating Shakhtar on away goals, the away goal that he himself scored.
Barcelona are looking forward to welcoming Under to the Camp Nou.
The club sent a tweet directly to Under on their official Turkish language account saying as much.
Under will be starring in his first quarter-final tie, it will also be his first game at Camp Nou. A far cry from playing amateur football in rural Balikesir just a few years back.
The Roma youth has enjoyed a meteoric rise from Altinordu in the second-tier, to playing a starring role for Basaksehir who finished last season as surprise runners-up.
Who knows, perhaps Barcelona could be his next stop?
İçimize doğmuştu. ? Selam @cengizunder! Seni Camp Nou’da ağırlamayı sabırsızlıkla bekliyoruz… #TürkiyeFCB ?????? https://t.co/NMScxvC0jI
— FC Barcelona (@fcbarcelona_tr) March 16, 2018
This will be the fifth meeting between Barca and Roma.
The previous four were played in the group stages of the 2001/02 and 2015/16 Champions League.
The Italians will be hoping to avoid a repeat of the 6-1 defeat they suffered at the hands of Barcelona the last time they played.
Roma’s overall recover against Barca is not actually that bad.
The Giaolorossi beat the La Liga leaders in the 2002 Champions League at the Stadio Olimpico and the other two games ended in a draw.
The Serie A outfit have never lost against Barcelona at home.
