ROM
SAS
COMMENT By Ben Hayward
It was a moment he will remember for the rest of his life. Advancing down the right flank, Alessandro Florenzi looked up and arched an outrageous lob over the head of Marc-Andre ter Stegen and in off the post to level the scores at 1-1. On his 100th Champions League appearance, not even Lionel Messi could match that.
Luis Suarez had given Barca the lead after 21 minutes as he timed his run to perfection to stay onside and head home an Ivan Rakitic cross from point-blank range. Barca were dominant and looked likely to build on their advantage at that point. But Florenzi had other ideas.
The 24-year-old brought the ball out from the right-back position, crossed the halfway line and, with little else on, unleashed an unstoppable drive that left Ter Stegen with no chance. Many were quick to point the finger at the German goalkeeper, but he was blameless. Florenzi had hit one of the Champions League's great goals - and there was nothing he or anybody else could have done to foresee that the Italian international would shoot from there.
Back at the club he coached in 2011-12, Luis Enrique was given an ovation by the same fans who had called for his head during his time in charge - but the Asturian coach was unable to leave with the satisfaction of a victory on his return to the Stadio Olimpico.
"Our efforts deserved a better result," the 45-year-old said after the match. "We clearly dominated the match." The Barca boss also lamented the loss of Rafinha to what looked like a serious injury in the second half.
Messi came closer than anyone to another goal for Barca as he fizzed a fierce drive over the bar in the first half and hit the crossbar with a superb shot in the latter stages. The Argentine also fooled Lucas Digne with some sublime skill which sent the French defender the wrong way. He had his memorable moments as he usually does - but none were enough to win it on this occasion.
Instead, the game's highlight belonged to Florenzi and he said: "I am emotional. I put my hands over my face afterwards. I couldn't pass it to Edin [Dzeko] and I thought it would be a goal-kick at most."
Instead, however, it went in off the woodwork to give Roma a vital goal and they held on for a valuable point against last season's treble winners. "We climbed Everest," Florenzi added.
In a group also containing Bayer Leverkusen and BATE Borisov (the German side won the other group game 4-1 on Wednesday), Barca will not be too disheartened at having come through probably their toughest fixture with a point in the bag. Roma, too, will be content.
Scorer Suarez should probably have had a penalty after he was fouled by Wojciech Szczesny, but the home side also appealed for a spot-kick after Javier Mascherano pulled down Radja Nainggolan in the second half.
"We levelled the match due to the amazing goal from Alessandro Florenzi," Roma boss Rudi Garcia said afterwards. "It's a goal that will played over many times."
That is certainly true and it will go down as one the great Champions League goals - along with many of the ones scored by Messi.
The Argentine has said that his favourite goal is the one he scored against Manchester United in the 2009 Champions League final in this very stadium, when he leapt to beat Edwin van der Sar with a fantastic header and seal the famous trophy (and the treble) for Pep Guardiola's side.
He wasn't quite able to produce such a moment on Wednesday, but he was witness to Florenzi's fantasy strike and also became the youngest player in Champions League and European Cup history to reach a century of appearances.
So it may have been Florenzi's night, but it is fast becoming Messi's competition. One hundred and counting.
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