Roma Women played their first-ever game at the Stadio Olimpico on the occasion of one of their most important matches in history since this was their first time reaching the UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-finals as it was also the first time they meet a European giant like Barcelona Women.
It is true that Roma lost 0-1 at home and it is also true that Barcelona complicated the Roman mission with this advantage, especially when considering that the second leg will most likely be played at a full Camp Nou next Wednesday. Nevertheless, losing 0-1 against one of the best-attacking teams in Europe can keep Roma’s morale high as it also means that the Giallorosse have got the right to believe in their qualification chances, knowing that one goal at Camp Nou would eventually keep Roma in the game.
In this tactical analysis article, our focus will mainly be centred on analysing Roma’s performance in the first leg, what to take from it and what needs to be improved ahead of the second leg as well as trying to suggest the tactics that could help Roma get back in the game and battle for the qualification ticket from Barcelona. Also, a section exploring Barcelona’s performance and predicting their approach in the second leg will be included in the analysis.
Lineups
Alessandro Spugna started the match relying on the 4-4-2 formation in order to adapt to Barcelona’s attacking strength and counter it with two lines of defence in addition to two forwards upfront. He chose Camelia Ceasar as a goalkeeper, Elisa Bartoli, Carina Wenninger, Elena Linari and Moeka Minami in defence, Giada Greggi and Manuela Giugliano as central midfielders, Annamaria Serturini and Andressa Alves as wingers while Valentina Giacinti and Emilie Haavi were the two forwards.
On the other hand, Jonatan Giráldez used his usual 4-3-3 formation with Sandra Paños as a goalkeeper, Lucy Bronze, Irene Paredes, Mapi León and Fridolina Rolfö in defence, Keira Walsh as a defensive midfielder, Aitana Bonmatí and Patricia Guijarro as central midfielders while the attacking three included Salma Paralluelo and Caroline Hansen on the wings and Asisat Oshoala as a striker.
Roma’s performance and dream
It can be said that Roma have been able to keep their dream alive following the first leg because they didn’t concede more than one goal against one of the most powerful attacks in Europe. They were to concede less goals than excepted thanks to a relatively solid defensive performance which saw Roma’s players trying to mark Barcelona’s attacking and even midfield players tightly as they defended with eight and more players every time. This defensive sacrifice at the expense of the attacking threat helped Roma alleviate Barcelona’s dangerous attacks and penetrations from wings as they also made sure to mark a dangerous striker like Oshoala tightly throughout the match.
Moreover, marking a player like Bonmatí was essential because she is a midfielder who joins the attack recurrently and places herself in key spot in order to receive and shoot on goal or provide key passes. It was very good to see Roma’s players attentive enough to her movements and mark her most of the time especially when she advances towards the box like in the following example where she received a pass with her back towards the goal and was trying to turn quickly and shoot but Linari was reactive enough to block her shooting attempt and save a dangerous chance.
Also, the fact that Bonmatí was surrounded by four Roma players in this picture shows how reactive Roma’s defence was.
It is known that Barcelona rely on their wingers a lot either for cutting inside or for crossing to Oshoala. And either way, they can always create danger through these types of attacks.
It is also true that Hansen and Paralluelo succeeded in overcoming Roma’s multiple marking attempts on several occasions yet these marking attempts disturbed their plans and made the attacks less dangerous most of the time.
At the same time, defending during crosses and set-pieces was key for Roma as they were able to limit Oshoala’s threat in the air thanks to tight marking from Linari. The following example shows how close Linari was to Oshoala when the cross was being executed. In fact, Linari made sure to not leave space for Oshoala because she knows that such reluctance in marking would result in a goal.
Despite her key defending on most occasions, Linari made a defending mistake that cost her team a goal during the first half. During the possession phase of Barcelona, Linari tried to intercept a pass to Paralluelo was a sliding tackle but her tackle wasn’t well-timed. As a result, she left some space at the back and Paralluelo was intelligent enough to notice it and exploit that by shooting from distance since she found the space and time needed to do it with success.
Therefore, avoiding such wrong defensive decisions will be key in the second leg as Roma will have to be much more attentive defensively during that match because Barcelona are known for being even more dangerous from an attacking perspective when they play at home.
Moreover, adopting the same 4-4-2 formation doesn’t sound like a bad idea for the second leg as well since this formation guarantees two strong lines of defence while keeping two strikers upfront to exploit counter-attacking opportunities. Another good option would be to switch to the 3-5-2 formation in order to switch things a bit and perhaps surprise Barcelona. This would provide even more defensive stability inside the box and even on the wings and the encouraging factor that would help to switch to this formation is the fact that Roma have already played according to the 3-5-2 formation on numerous occasions.
From an attacking perspective, Roma will have to rely more on Giugliano since she is the playmaker of the team and both strikers will need to be much more decisive in front of goal. One of the most dangerous Roma occasions in the first leg took place thanks to an excellent Giugliano long pass at the back of Barcelona’s defensive line, reaching Giacinti in a perfect position. The only issue was that Giacinti failed to reach the ball before the goalkeeper who went out to save the opportunity. Nevertheless, Giacinti could have done more to touch the ball before the goalkeeper since she had the advantage at first, as it is shown below.
Barcelona’s attacking performance
Barcelona have done what was needed from them which was getting the advantage and making their mission easier for the second leg. It is true that it wasn’t the easiest of tasks to play in such a difficult stadium yet it was a little bit surprising for Barcelona to win with a one-goal advantage only.
In terms of performance, Barcelona created numerous chances and didn’t have a problem in reaching Roma’s goal. However, they did it with difficulty and not with ease and were unable to finish the actions in the needed way most of the time. Hansen, Paralluelo and Oshoala were able to shoot on goal and threaten Roma’s defence through penetrations but they were unable to score or finish in the needed way. Only Paralluelo was able to do so in the match’s single goal action after she got rid from Linari and found a clear shooting path. What was excellent from Paralluelo is the fact that she made the decision very quickly and executed her shot with accuracy while adding a lot of curve to it to make the goalkeeper’s mission complicated.
Also, Barcelona were close to scoring the second goal on several occasions and perhaps the most notable one was Oshoala’s powerful header which was saved miraculously by Roma’s goalkeeper. In fact, Barcelona did their best to score but encountered a ready defence and goalkeeper which made their finishing look bad most of the time. Therefore, they will have to be much more decisive from the start of the match next time in order to not let their opponent believe more in their chances and defend better.
Conclusion
Barcelona have got the advantage they needed from this match and will be preparing to make a much more convincing attacking performance at Camp Nou next Wednesday. And on the other side, Roma will have to prepare for a tougher match and will need to find a way to steal a goal or two using counter-attacks if they would like to make their dream a reality and keep playing in the UWCL apart from battling Inter, Milan, Juventus and Fiorentina in Serie A.
