Alexander Puzik presents to your attention the announcement of the first duel of the 1/4 finals of the Champions League between Barcelona and Roma.

Yes, we know that you have not moved away from Ronaldo's goal in yesterday's Real Madrid game against Juventus, but it's time to switch to today's battles.

Barcelona - Roma Wednesday, 21:45, Barcelona, ??Camp Nou. Arbiter of the meeting - Danny McKeeley (Netherlands) Live broadcast on the TV channel Football 2.

Barcelona and Roma will play for the first time among themselves in a two-legged confrontation. Previously, the team met in the group stage of the Champions League, but now at stake is the semifinal of the most prestigious tournament of the Old World. Barcelona is the absolute favorite of this pair and many believe that the Romans will not even be able to give the Spaniards a fight, but are the "wolves" really so? Will the Catalans really do without bites?.

Roma at the stage of the 1/8 finals with great difficulties passed Shakhtar. Then the Romans lost in the first match in Kharkov, but were able to correct the situation in Italy and formalized the output in the next stage. Barcelona, ??in turn, fought against Chelsea and without problems here also did not happen. In the first match, only the luck and error of Christensen helped "blue-pomegranate" to take away a draw from England, and in the home game the situation was greatly facilitated by Thibaut Courtois, who missed ridiculous goals. Despite the final score 3: 0, the game was not easy.

At the weekend in their championships failed to defeat neither Rome nor Barcelona. The Romans on the road patted the nerves of Bologna, and on the nerves of Barcelona in Andalusia played Sevilla. However, in the case of "wolves" it makes sense to talk about the loss of points, while "blue-garnet" achieved a completely acceptable result for themselves. And considering that then "blaugranas" played two goals a minute before the end of regular time, then we can safely say that the match against Sevilla went to the team only for the benefit of. Nevertheless, both Roma and Barcelona have already forgotten about the games of the weekend and are completely concentrated on the internal confrontation.

Usually, all teams are happy when the first match has to be played on the road, but it is unlikely that the Romans were happy that they will first have to fight at the Camp Nou. Why? Everything is simple. The struggle of Roma may end today. There is no doubt that Barcelona will try to solve the issue of exit this evening, so that the guests will be very, very hard. The first task of the Italians is to survive the first minutes and not miss. The hosts will certainly start the match actively and try to immediately upset the opponent, and if it succeeds, the guests will not be happy - on the courage, Barcelona is able to trample any opponent.

As for the personnel situation, the problem is only with Di Francesco. Precisely will not play attacking midfielder Roma Cengiz Under - he stayed in Rome because of an injury. Also, under a small question, participation in the game of Nainggolan and Pellegrini, the decision on which is sure to be taken at the last moment. Valverde can not count only on Din, but he still would not have got to start. Great news for the coach is the recovery from the injury of Sergio Busquets.

Approximate compositions:.

Barcelona: Ter Stegen - Roberto Piquet Umtiti Alba - Paulinho, Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta - Messi, Luis Suarez Roma: Alisson - Florence, Fazio, Manolas, Kolarov - Nainggolan, De Rossi, Strootman - El Shaarawy, Dzeko, Perotti Out: Dinh - Karsdorp, Under Doubtful: Nainggolan, Pellegrini (both - Roma) Interesting facts:.

- Barcelona for the 11th time in a row takes part in the quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League, while for the Italians this is the first quarterfinal of the main European Cup in 10 years.

- From 2008 to 2013, Barcelona has always participated in at least the semifinals of the Champions League. But in the last two drawings (and three of the last four) ended the fight at the stage 1/4 finals.

- Roma twice reached this stage of the Champions League and both times lost. Another time the Romans reached the quarterfinals in the European Cup.

- The Italians have successfully played against Barcelona before. In four meetings with the Catalans they suffered only one defeat, however, a large. Two seasons ago, Barca defeated the guests at the Camp Nou with a score of 6: 1.

- Barcelona does not lose in 25 home matches of the Champions League in a row - since September 2013 (B23 H2). Two draws fell on lost quarterfinals against Atletico and Juventus.

- In the last 10 playoff games in his field, Barca scored eight wins with two draws. The last defeat is dated back to the semifinal meeting of the Champions League-2012/13, when the blue-garnet lost to Bavaria with a score of 0: 3.

- Statistics of two-match fights of Roma with clubs of the championship of Spain: В3 П4.

Slovo:.

Head coach of Barcelona Ernesto Valverde:.

- If you watched the way Roma played in the band, it's hardly surprising that they got so far. They reliably act on the defensive and have interesting options in the attack. This quarterfinal of the Champions League, it will not be easy here, and I do not like it when they say that we can solve all the problems in the first match. I really hope that in the stands of the Camp Nou will be a huge number of fans. I want them to support and drive us forward in the same way as it was in the match with Chelsea.

Head coach of Roma Eusebio Di Francesco:.

- Tomorrow, as never before, the team game will be important. We came here to do something extraordinary, although we treat Barca with great respect.

Perhaps this is the strongest club in the world. But we want to continue to live our dream. Having reached this stage, Roma has already demonstrated that she has reached a new level. Barcelona can boast an excellent football mentality, so should we show. You need to give the opponent a minimum of opportunities and in no case be afraid. I have to play my football. When the ball is with us, it does not need to be feared - it must be used.

2: 0 forecast Author: Alexander Puzik.