On April 10, 2018, one of the great hecatombs in the recent history of Barcelona took place at the Olympic Games in Rome.. However, this would only be the beginning of a tragic heartbreak with the Champions League by the Barça club. Already in the previous edition they came from being thrashed, but by teams of a greater entity in terms of football level and purchasing power, such as PSG or Juventus, compared to the Rome. On the other hand, what happened that night in the Italian capital was, without a doubt, a dream for some and a real nightmare for others.
The Barcelona He arrived with the ticket to the semifinals practically in his pocket. The 4-1 harvested in the first leg gave them a more than safe cushion before a possible mishap. Nothing is further from reality. In just six minutes, the alarms have already gone off. Edin Dzeko made it 1-0, taking advantage of a ball into space and after beating both Jordi Alba and Umtiti in the race. It would already be in the second part, close to game time, when De Rossi scored a penalty for 2-0. Thus, Roma was one goal away from qualifying. Which, came with Manolas' mythical goal and his header to overcome Ter Stegen with eight minutes remaining.
Thus, with that 3-0, added to those of the previous year, the downhill slope of Barcelona began without brakes in the Champions League. Years later came Liverpool 4-0 and, of course, Bayern Munich's historic 2-8. However, laying eyes on present-day Rome, little or almost nothing remains of it from that mythical night. Of the starting eleven, only the inexhaustible Dzeko remains indisputably. On the other hand, There are also Florenzi, who hardly counts (he was on loan at Valencia), Fazio and Juan Jesús. Of the rest, no trace.
The sale of Aleksandar Kolarov is the seventh face that disappears from that team. The Serbian has gone to Inter for a million and a half euros. In this way, it is added to the transfers of Alisson (Liverpool), Manolas (Naples), Strootman (Marseilles), From Rossi (Boca Juniors / now retired), Nainggolan (Inter) and Schick (Bayer Leverkusen). While in the case of the bench, in addition to no longer sitting the same coach (Eusebio Di Francesco), neither are the footballers The Shaarawy (Shanghai Shenhua), Gerson (Flamengo), Gonalons (Granada) and Skorupski (Bologna).
| Player | New team | Cost (million euros) |
| Alisson becker | Liverpool | 62,500,000 |
| Kostas Manolas | Naples | 36,000,000 |
| Kevin strootman | Marseilles | 25,000,000 |
| Daniele de rossi | Boca Juniors | Free |
| Radja Nainggolan | Inter | 38,000,000 |
| Aleksandar Kolarov | Inter | 1,500,000 |
| Patrik schick | Bayer Leverkusen | 26,500,000 |
| Maxime gonalons | Pomegranate | 4,000,000 |
| Lukasz skorupski | Bologna | 9,000,000 |
| Stephan El Shaarawy | Shanghai Shenhua | 16,000,000 |
| Gerson | Flamengo | 11,800,000 |
| Total: 229,500,000 |
And it is that, to make matters worse, Roma has even changed ownership. At the end of August, the sale of James Pallotta became official, with the entry of Dan Friedkin, another American businessman who took control of the 'she-wolf' for 591 million euros. A property that, according to Forbes, exceeds $ 4.3 billion in equity (his largest company is 'Gulf States Toyota Distributors', the distributor of vehicles and components Toyota in United States.
So, now Roma is entering a transition phase, which is led by Paulo Fonseca on the bench. In the green, with Dzeko as the main flag bearer, along with other footballers such as the jewel of Italy, Nicolò Zaniolo (again injured of the cruciate ligament), the Spanish Pedro, Carles perez, Gonzalo villar or Pau Lopez, the experienced Mkhitaryan, or the also indisputable headlines Lorenzo Pellegrini, Cristante, Mancini and Spinazzola. Entering the Champions League this coming season would be a giant boost for Friedkin's project in the Italian capital.