Italian team's defender says margin of defeat in Champions League encounter could have been worse given Messi & Co's form at Camp Nou
Lionel Messi scores Barcelona
Barcelona: Roma defender Maicon has admitted his team were fortunate not to lose by a scoreline greater than 1-6 against a rampant Barcelona at Camp Nou on Tuesday.
Maicon
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Luis Enrique’s men made sure of top spot in Champions League Group E with a stunning victory, courtesy of doubles from Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez as well as strikes from Gerard Pique and Adriano.
Barca could have scored more, with Messi — on his return to the starting XI after a knee injury — having a first-half goal disallowed and Wojciech Szczesny making a number of important saves in the Roma goal.
Lionel Messi scores Barcelona’s fifth goal against AS Roma at Camp Nou on Tuesday. Pic/Getty Images
And Maicon did not try to gloss over the performance of Rudi Garcia’s side after the match.
"We tried to play our football but tonight we did not manage to do anything," he said to Mediaset Premium.
"We were lucky to lose only 1-6 actually. We never really tried to play, we did zero, nothing. "Our objectives for the season do not change but we have to play differently from tonight."
Despite the heavy defeat, Roma remain second in Group E with five points from as many games after BATE Borisov held Bayer Leverkusen to a 1-1 draw in the other game and the Italian side will progress to the Last 16 with a two-goal win at home to the Belarusians on matchday six.
‘From another planet’
Szczesny, meanwhile, admitted that Barcelona "played against a team from another planet".
Speaking to BT Sport after the game, Szczesny revealed that he was in awe of Barca’s attacking performance.
"It was beautiful to watch because we played against a team from another planet," he said.
"I was in goal playing for Roma but I appreciated what I saw from Barcelona. They were ridiculously good. As hard as it is to lose 1-6 it was beautiful to watch."
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