Barcelona will take a narrow aggregate lead into next week’s Women’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Roma at Camp Nou following what turned into a too close for comfort opening game in the Italian capital on Tuesday night.
Salma Paralluelo’s first Champions League goal was the overall difference, but Barça were guilty of squandering chances to put the tie to bed, before Roma threatened a late comeback.
Barcelona unsurprisingly dominated the ball right from the kick-off. A number of times in those early moments, it took a Roma scramble defensively to avert danger - Le Giallorosse had never played on such a stage before, nor at Stadio Olimpico, and early nerves perhaps showed.
Mapi Leon had the first sight of goal for the Catalans around 10 minutes, taking up position on the edge of the box and sweeping a sweet left-footed that rippled the net just the wrong side of the post. Both Paralluelo and Caroline Graham Hansen were looking threatening out wide and the latter soon forced Roma goalkeeper Camelia Ceasar into a close-range save.
As Barcelona continued to probe, Lucy Bronze felt she could have done better with a free header at a corner that missed the target, while Aitana Bonmati didn’t make clean enough contact when a weak defensive header dropped to her around 18 yards out.
Paralluelo’s breakthrough was clinical to say the least. The 19-year-old received the ball in a tight space but her first touch out of her feet made the opportunity to then stroke a precise left-footed shot in the bottom corner from just outside the area.
The visitors almost doubled their lead within minutes of the restart. Asisat Oshoala, who actually lacked direct service in the first half, side-footed the ball towards the bottom corner only to see the sprawling Ceasar claw it away just in time. The Romanian stopper somehow also pushed a point-blank Oshoala header over the bar not long afterwards.
Roma’s best passage of play up that point came shortly before the hour mark as Emilie Haavi chased what appeared to be a lost cause on the left. She kept the ball in, driving in-field and pulling back to Valentina Giacinti, whose close-range shot was desperately deflected over by Leon.
Meanwhile, Oshoala was doing everything but score as Elena Linari cleared her header off the line.
Having kept it to 1-0 and managing to create some openings, Roma started to take a few more risks in the final quarter of the contest It had some benefit and Haavi perhaps should have done better with a good chance on the left, firing low at Sandra Panos.
There were gasps around Stadio Olimpico towards the end when Andressa Alves put a gilt-edged chance wide of the post, while it needed the hands of Panos to tip Manuela Giugliano’s swerving shot over the crossbar. Panos again made an even more important near-post save deep into stoppage time when the defence in front of her switched off and Giacinti was through on goal.
Roma player ratings (4-4-2)
GK: Camelia Ceasar - 8/10 - Showcased an array of top shot-stopping abilities.
RB: Elisa Bartoli (c) - 5/10 - Trying to keep up with Paralluelo was like chasing shadows. Worked so hard just to keep Barcelona from running away with it.
CB: Carina Wenninger - 8/10 - Put in an impressively stubborn performance at the back.
CB: Elena Linari - 8/10 - Cleared a certain goal off the line early in the second half.
LB: Moeka Minami - 7/10 - Appeared nervous from the start and struggled to deal with Hansen but did improve significantly as the game progressed.
RM: Annamaria Serturini - 4/10 - Saw so little of the ball, making creating anything virtually impossible.
CM: Manuela Giugliano - 6/10 - Worked hard off the ball and was only denied a late contender for goal of the season by a top save.
CM: Giada Greggi - 5/10 - Had to play so much without the ball which took its toll.
LM: Emilie Haavi - 6/10 - Gave the ball away too often but made a great chance for Giacinti with determined running in from the touchline and also forced a save from Panos herself.
ST: Andressa Alves - 5/10 - Struggled to get involved against her former club until near the end when she put a glorious chance to equalise wide.
ST: Valentina Giacinti - 6/10 - Always a willing runner and did have chances - probably should have taken one of them.
Substitutes
SUB: Vicky Losada (61' for Greggi) - 6/10
SUB: Benedetta Glionna (61' for Serturini) - 6/10
SUB: Lucia Di Guglielmo (66' for Bartoli) - 6/10
Manager
Alessandro Spugna - 8/10 - This was always going to be a tough ask for his team, but they were well drilled and even became more expansive later on.
Barcelona player ratings (4-3-3)
GK: Sandra Panos (c) - 8/10 - Largely a spectator until the closing stages but did make several decent of saves when needed - especially in stoppage time.
RB: Lucy Bronze - 7/10 - Disappointed she didn't hit the target with a first half header. Got forward at will in open play. Took a nasty blow to the face in the first half but recovered.
CB: Irene Paredes - 6/10 - Good with distribution. Tested more later on.
CB: Mapi Leon - 7/10 - Played almost like a deep-lying playmaker instead of a centre-back. Also made a crucial defensive intervention to preserve the lead.
LB: Fridolina Rolfo - 6/10 - Occupied a very high position.
CM: Aitana Bonmati - 7/10 - Always looking for spaces in between the lines.
CM: Keira Walsh - 6/10 - Sat at the base of midfield dictating play. Roma bypassed her in the second half with long balls and counter attacks.
CM: Patri Guijarro - 7/10 - Deserves big credit for being able to spot runs into pockets, as she did when Paralluelo broke the deadlock.
RW: Caroline Graham Hansen - 6/10 - Started brightly but became less effective as Minami improved.
ST: Asisat Oshoala - 7/10 - Much brighter and more involved in the second half. Could have had a hat-trick on another day but for multiple saves and a goal-line clearance.
LW: Salma Paralluelo - 8/10 - Looked a danger whenever she got the opportunity to run in space and took her goal with extreme quality and composure.
Substitutes
SUB: Geyse (66' for Oshoala) - 6/10
SUB: Ana Maria Crnogorcevic (79' for Paralluelo) - 6/10
SUB: Ingrid Engen (79' for Guijarro) - 6/10
SUB: Bruna Vilamala (90+2' for Hansen) - N/A
SUB: Marta Torrejon (90+2' for Bronze) - N/A
Manager
Jonatan Giraldez - 7/10 - Restored his strongest XI after a rotated side faced Valencia last Friday.
