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Real Madrid vs Roma : Five Things we learned

By Vijay Vemu

MADRID, SPAIN - MARCH 08: James Rodriguez of Real Madrid celebrates scoring his team's second goal with Toni Kroos during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg match between Real Madrid and Roma at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on March 8, 2016 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
MADRID, SPAIN - MARCH 08: James Rodriguez of Real Madrid celebrates scoring his team's second goal with Toni Kroos during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg match between Real Madrid and Roma at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on March 8, 2016 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images) /
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MADRID, SPAIN – MARCH 08: Mohamed Salah of Roma reacts after failing to score during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg match between Real Madrid and Roma at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on March 8, 2016 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)
MADRID, SPAIN – MARCH 08: Mohamed Salah of Roma reacts after failing to score during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg match between Real Madrid and Roma at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on March 8, 2016 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images) /

2. Not at full strength Roma team struggled

Although Roma still put out a solid XI, they were missing a lot of key players from the squad. Antonio Rüdiger and Radja Nainggolan were out of the game due to injury. Both are key players in the midfield and the defense.

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Especially Nainggolan, whose physical style of play could have caused problems for the Real Madrid midfield. A Madrid midfield that found itself in acres of space in the second half. Without two of their best players, we knew Roma were going to struggle.

They also fell victim to a supposed injury bug during the game as well. In the second half, Miralem Pjanić was taken off and replaced by William Vainqueur. It was a strange substitution considering that Roma needed more offense and they took off their best offensive midfielder and replaced him with a more defensive midfielder.

It was a very strange sub and there wasn’t much explanation for it. Speculation could be that Pjanic was injured and had to be subbed off. In a game where they needed offense the most, losing their best offensive player hurt Roma a lot.

Considering that they were underdogs coming into the second leg, injuries weren’t kind to Roma as they limped into and out of the game.

Next: 1. Are Real Madrid contenders?

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