Four Things We Learned: Roma finally solve Qarabag conundrum

Fantastic achievement

Knowing they needed to defeat Qarabag to complete a remarkable qualification from their Champions League - one that also featured the mighty Chelsea and Atletico Madrid - Roma did precisely that by defeating the resolute visitors 1-0.

Not only did they secure their passage to the next stage, but the Giallorossi also topped their group - a feat they hadn't accomplished since 2008-09 (when they interestingly also beat Chelsea to top spot).

Indeed, this was an achievement that will live long in the memory of Roma fans and an overjoyed Eusebio Di Francesco was rightfully full of praise for his troops.

“It was a great win and a difficult one too – it's never easy to win in the Champions League," he gleamed. "I'm absolutely delighted to finish top of the group. It was tough. No one had us down as favourites at the start; in fact, we were pretty much written off. We just got on with the job and believed in ourselves."

Effective counter pressing

Roma's supreme counter-pressing was an integral component towards stopping Qarabag from effectively countering the hosts, as the home side immediately applied pressure once they lost possession.

As illustrated in the image below, where Roma have just lost the ball, they then turn their attention to rapidly heaping pressure on the ball holder. This subsequently puts huge duress on Wilde-Donald Guerrier, who has to contend with Alessandro Florenzi, Stephan El Shaarawy and Radja Nainggolan in close proximity.

The trio close off any passing lanes and limit any time on the ball for Guerrier, thus making it nigh on impossible to distribute cleanly, giving Roma a fine opportunity to force a turnover in an ideal advanced position.

Dynamic occupation of 10 spaces

Playing against the Azerbaijani outfit, who made a concerted effort to shut down central areas, the method of dynamically occupying dangerous space in between the opposing defensive and midfield lines proved a strong tactic in creating dangerous attacking moments.

El Shaarawy was especially influential in this regard, for he'd astutely drift infield from his right wing station at pace and be on the move when receiving. Importantly, he'd also orient his body to inherit possession to be facing diagonally so he could use his momentum and burst upfield, which was much harder for Qarabag to defend than if he was obtaining possession stationary with his back to goal.

Nainggolan's movement

Nainggolan was once again a key contributor towards another crucial win, with the all-action midfielder putting in another versatile shift full of energy and intensity. While producing a notable four shots, two successful dribbles, one key pass, three tackles, eight ball recoveries and completing 95.2% of 63 attempted passes were definitely immense, his intelligent movement was another key factor throughout.

His aptitude in this regard was highlighted by the way he'd make lateral movements away from the ball carrier, that dragged his marker with him, to manufacture crucial central passing lanes to his attackers in damaging offensive areas.

The enormous upside of this can be seen below, where Edin Dzeko and Kevin Strootman are now in wonderful locations to wreak havoc courtesy of Nainggolan's intelligence.