UEFA Champions League – Roma vs. Bayern Munich – Full Time Report
With the second half starting it was expected that the Italian side were going to make a change so that the tempo of the game could be diverted and to inorder to attain that it was expected that there would be a different team fielded
hence the substitutions did come as the midfielder Leandro Grenco, who was booked in the first half for bringing down Toni Kroos, was taken off for Fabio Henrique Simplicio. The change was basically made to add a little attacking approach in the game while
on the other hand Louis Van Gaal looked to be happy with his German side as he didn’t change a single thing in the line-up.
The change did come in handy later on as the Italian side won possession in the centre of the pitch with the help of Henrique who managed to pass the ball towards Jeremy Menez. Menez got the job done for his side as he made no mistake
in passing it towards the newly signed former AC Milan striker Marco Borriello. Borriello flicked the ball terrifically towards his stronger foot and shot the ball into the net to pull one back for his team as the score line changed and became 1-2 and there
was a little celebration in the Italian stands as there was now a hope that the Roman side could draw the game to confirm their position in the UEFA Champions League.
The German Champions had to kick the game off yet again as the ball was taken to the centre of the pitch by the referee after the goal. The Italians were now trying to gain control of the game as they pushed Bayern Munich’s defensive lines
to the extent that they were surrounded with Red Roman shirts around the danger area. The Germans were now more concentrated towards their defence which looked to be a bad strategy as now there was a chance that the Italian team would equalize because they
were pushing their opponents to the back line.
During the 75th minute many substitutions took place for both the sides to change the cause of the game and later they did manage to come in handy for the Italian team. Thomas Mueller and Frank Ribery were taken
off by Louis Van Gaal as Diego Contento and Hamit Altintop took their positions on the field. On the other hand, the legendary Italian striker Francesco Totti came on for Matteo Brighi which changed the formation to 4-3-3 for the Italians and 4-5-1 for the
Germans.
During the 81st minute Mirko Vucinic managed to give a fabulous defence splitting pass to John Arne Riise who was making a run from the left flank. The Italian midfielder slid the ball perfectly towards the penalty
area where Danele De Rossi was present to tap it in and the Italians were back in it as the match came to a 2-2 draw. Now with these two teams drawing the game there was a chance for Roma to qualify for the next round and the celebration that De Rossi did
simply summed up how much the goal meant to him. The Italian midfielder ran towards his coach to show his faith in him and the team.
Mirko Vucinic who was having a fantastic second half was taken off during the 81st minute for David Pizarro. However, no one knew what was about to come for the Italian side. During the 84thminute, Menez
was taken down in the penalty area and the Roman side won themselves a penalty and they now had the perfect opportunity to beat the German side and keep their hopes alive in the UEFA Champions League. The penalty was to be taken by none other than the number
10 wearing striker Francesco Totti who made no mistake as he shot the ball into the net and won his team the game.
Later, the Italians managed to defend their 1 goal advantage for the last 6 minutes and did not let the tired German team to breach their defensive walls and soon the referee blew his whistle to end a game which was being played in the
heart of Rome thunderours cheers could be heard as this was a game that shocked the football fans who were running ecstatically running around after witnessing the turn of events in the second half – the Italians managed to make a comeback from being two goals
down and then eventually winning it by scoring three goals in the second half.
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