Roma are in second place with five points after yesterday’s win but trail Barcelona by five points. There was a five-minute blackout at the start of the second half in which we lost all the intensity and concentration we’d had in the first.
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Giallorossi and his first Champions League goal since November 2013 to give the hosts what looked like a commanding lead.
Roma now move up to second place in Group E but Garcia will be looking for improvements after a second-half display that was completely at odds with Roma’s impressive first half performance.
Schmidt’s team fought back from two goals down in the Italian capital to make it 2-2, but a late penalty from Miralem Pjanic handed the points to the hosts and gave them the advantage heading into the final two group games.
“We should have gone in for the half-time break at least three or four goals ahead”, said the Frenchman. Leverkusen had rallied from two goals down to draw level with Roma before captain Ömer Toprak of Turkey was shown a red card for pushing Mohamed Salah inside the area, prompting the penalty that Pjanic converted for the victory.
Roma’s director of sport Walter Sabatini has urged fans to turn up in greater numbers, saying: “We are playing the best football in Italy”. After losing their first two matches in Group F, the Gunners revived their hopes of reaching the last 16 with a rousing 2-0 win over the Germans last time out.
Admir Mehmedi scored seconds into the second half, and he was followed by Chicharito, who toed the offside line before receiving a pass from Karim Bellarabi and finishing with his right foot.
Roma were 2-0 up, before being pegged back to 2-2.
Dzeko should have effectively put the match to bed 60 seconds later when Salah set him up, but he blazed over from 10 yards.
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Once again, the fine line between having an awe-inspiring attack and a threadbare defence had been laid bare at both ends of the field, Roma throwing away a two-goal lead just as they had done at the BayArena a fortnight ago.
