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AS Roma came from behind to take a 2-1 advantage over Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at the Stadio Olimpico. David Pizarro and Alessandro Mancini were the destroyers of the Spanish club. Roma coach Luciano Spalletti was obviously pleased as his team ended a poor run of 3 home defeats against Real.

Spalleti said: “I must congratulate my players. We played a great game and we made use of our counter-attack opportunities. It wasn’t easy to come back against Real but we’ve been patient and we’ve been rewarded.”

Real Madrid had a dream start and look set for a fourth victory when captain Raul stunned the Italians with an early goal. In the 8th minute, Arjen Robben scurried down the left and crossed for Guti. His weak shot will not have bothered Roma goalkeeper Doni but Raul was quick in sticking his foot out to divert the ball into the far corner.

Roma maintained their composure and nearly equalized within minutes, if not for the reflexes of Iker Casillas who stopped Marco Cassetti’s long range effort. The Italians continued with intermittent threats but it was obvious Real Madrid were calling the shots and plentiful chances emerged for them to take the lead.

However, luck and accuracy were not the order of the day. Ruud van Nistelrooy had a goal disqualified for offside. In the 21st minute, a mesmerizing run down the flanks from Robben created some space, from which a beautiful cross was floated but Raul, in the best of positions to capitalize, chose to head wide.

Three minutes later, Real Madrid paid for their slipshod finishing as Roma equalized. Francesco Totti found Mancini on the left and the Brazilian’s cross fell into the path of David Pizarro who beat Iker Casillas with a deflected shot off Fernando Gago.

While largely a pedestrian after his assist for the first goal, Totti sprang to life again after the break. In the 58th minute, the playmaker cum captain, showed why he is hailed as the Prince of Rome.

A perfectly-weighted pass dissected Real’s defense and allowed the onrushing Mancini to latch onto the ball, round Casillas and squeeze a shot into the net from a tight angle. On hindsight, if Gabriel Heinze had been less attack-minded, there will be sufficient cover instead of a gaping hole at Real’s rearguard.

In the 67th minute, Doni almost gifted Real Madrid a goal as he spilled a shot from Robben but it was cleared away in the nick of time. With 10 minutes left, Real manager Bernd Schuster made a double substitution involving Royston Drenthe (Robben) and Julio Baptista (Diarra).

Drenthe made immediate contributions as he crossed from the right for van Nistelrooy but the striker was unlucky to see his close range shot come back off the post. Two minutes later, after some excellent work by Raul, Baptista also had a chance to score but the ball, as if in a rugby match, was blasted well over.

I am not surprised if Real Madrid felt the defeat was unfair. Playing away, they accorded little respect to Roma, as they dominated possession and created clear-cut chances but were constantly denied and then went on to concede two goals.

This victory gives Roma a crucial advantage ahead of the return leg and to be fair, they were effective in dishing out Italian style football. Fact is, you can sleep for 89 minutes and score from the only shot on target. That is all the gulf you need between a winner and a loser and harsh reality it may be, but for some, it is the beauty of the game.

I feel that Real Madrid have nothing much to fear as their performance indicated that their creative juices are still flowing in abundance. With fanatical home support, they can be confident in overcoming this deficit. Real also scored the all-important away goal which can be crucial in a tight match. This will force an open game as Roma will be less conservative in order to secure a safe passage, rather than to sit back and defend in numbers.

The only dark cloud for Real Madrid is the list of unavailable players. Sergio Ramos made the task harder after he was suspended for picking up a booking. This is a situation Schuster had hoped to avoid, with Pepe, Marcelo and Christoph Metzelder in the treatment room.

Schuster said: “We are going to suffer without Sergio Ramos. But then again I have only had my full defense for one game (through injuries) and that was against Barcelona. I would like to have more players available.”

A thin squad will of course be their undoing as they try to clinch the La Liga and Champions League. Fabio Capello won the League title but was sacked. It is difficult to outdo Capello, but anything less than a trophy (however insignificant), will make Schuster’s position even more precarious.

Come summer, I expect them to be again fully involved in the transfer market, to sustain their title challenges. But they do not need a Cristiano Ronaldo as another galactico for next season, spending money to expand their defensive options will be a wiser choice.

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