Roma were out before they were even in. After all the speculation, hope and anticipation, the Italians' Champions League campaign ended with a disastrous thud. A spectacular and disastrous thud. Manchester United, on the other hand, played like Roma were merely a stepping stone to the semi-finals, final and even the trophy itself.

Every one of the seven goals was a beautiful completion of a strong attacking movement. United were unstoppable. Having said that, Roma in theory could have stopped them, and their collapse on the night will inspire much introspection and evaluation. For Roma to go from the peak of beating one of Europe's best teams 2-1 to the depths of a 7-1 thrashing by that same team less than a week later writes one of their greatest victories, and their worst defeat, almost simultaneously into their club history.

It was a night of could have, should have, would have. Roma could have come back even from the 3-0 hole they put themselves into early. Michael Carrick scored in the 11th minute with a perfectly-placed chip over Alexander Doni, who made no move to stop it. Six minutes later suprise starter Alan Smith struck, and before Roma had caught their breath from going down two goals in the first 20 minutes they were three behind thanks to a cool finish by Wayne Rooney.

Even that, backbreaking though it was, didn't need to spell Roma's end. They were down only 4-2 on aggregate and could have pulled themselves back into the match. After some back and forth play Roma should have scored before half time to stem the tide. But when Cristiano Ronaldo made it 4-0, the game was over.

The second half showed more of the same;  decent play from Roma, but not nearly inspired or dangerous enough to truly threaten. United continued to look dangerous and scored three second-half goals. In the end Rome did get a precious away goal but it was a small, small consolation.

As a Roma supporter I'm embarrassed and saddened. Embarrassed for the drubbing handed out on football's biggest club stage, and sad for what Rome could have, should have and would have accomplished.

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