Qualified and inundated with boos. Roma only gets a draw against Bate Borisov but the final 0-0 still allows them to access the second round. Thanks also to Barcelona, or rather to its goalkeeper Ter Stegen, who prevented Bayer Leverkusen from winning and qualifying. What really mattered, in one way or another, has been achieved but this is not enough to calm a fiery environment bordering on hostility. The Olimpico, largely emptied by the ultras protest, fearfully accompanied the 90' of the match, to then express their dissent at the end with a forest of deafening boos.
Difficult, within living memory, to remember another qualification received so badly, so much so as to trigger the reaction of James Pallotta. “It's frustrating for the boys to hear these whistles after a goal has been achieved – thundered the Roma president. – You have to know how to grow and stop throwing mud at players and staff, you need respect. These players deserve another stage and another audience." Harsh words, which will make the battle with the Curva Sud even more bitter.
In short, a ruined party but still a party. The Giallorossi reach the round of 5, a goal that had been missing for 11 years (the president was Rossella Sensi, the coach Claudio Ranieri) and this is what matters most. However, the modalities authorize legitimate criticisms, above all from a mental point of view: more than "XNUMX hungry wolves" (cited by Garcia) on the pitch we saw frightened players, emptied of tension and the environment.
And so Bate Borisov, who arrived at the Olimpico with the obligation to win, gathered courage and slowly raised his center of gravity. In the second half Roma tried to score and they would have succeeded if Dzeko first and then Florenzi hadn't gobbled up two sensational chances. However, the greatest of the match, without any doubt, came from the Belarusians in the 68th minute: Szczesny was miraculous in repelling Gordejchuk's shot with a sure shot (2 meters from goal) and saving a fundamental draw.
At that point the Olimpico definitively abandoned the intentions of victory and began to listen to Leverkusen, where a great Ter Stegen stopped his compatriots from a success that would have overturned every scenario. In all this, Bate continued to play for his chances and in the 78th minute came close to scoring again through Mladenovic. The last ring, in full recovery, came from Nainggolan, who scared the Belarusians with a left footed shot from outside the box.
At Atkinson's final whistle, the stadium held its breath for another, interminable, minute (they were still playing in Leverkusen), then, immediately after the mathematical qualification, it exploded in all its dissent with the forest of boos described above. “The team did everything to win – commented Garcia. – It cannot be said that we played badly, we tried and in any case we knew that even a draw could be enough for us. Qualification was what mattered and in such a difficult environment it is worth even more”.
The French coach can breathe a big sigh of relief but not enough to erase his Rome's doubts and perplexities. The work to become great is still long and on Sunday there will be the away match in Naples immediately, the worst that could happen. In short, the time to rejoice has not yet arrived.
