BARCELONA, Spain -- Three quick thoughts from Camp Nou on Barcelona's 4-1 win over Roma in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal.
1. Barcelona take advantage
Two own goals, a Gerard Pique tap-in and Luis Suarez's first goal in Europe this season put Barcelona on track to reach the Champions League semifinals for the first time since they won the competition back in 2015.
Daniele De Rossi and Kostas Manolas put through their own net either side of half-time as Roma imploded against a Barca side who never really hit the heights which have seen them remain unbeaten in La Liga and the Champions League this season.
Gerard Pique added a third on the hour mark before Edin Dzeko pulled a goal back 10 minutes from time. Suarez then ended a 10-game wait for a goal in the Champions League to leave his side in a commanding position going into the second leg in Italy on Tuesday.
Barca, who included Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets in their starting lineups after the duo recovered from recent knocks, dominated possession in the first half. However, Ernesto Valverde's team didn't look sharp. They laboured in the final third, with Ivan Rakitic's speculative effort off the post the closest they came to scoring in the opening 30 minutes.
When they did eventually take the lead, it was via a Roma mistake. Andres Iniesta's pass sought Messi but it found De Rossi, who turned the ball past his own goalkeeper Alisson with a fantastic finish. Roma had an immediate chance for an equaliser. Samuel Umtiti's foul on Lorezno Pellegrini was adjudged to have been on the edge of the box, not in the area, but the resulting free kick thumped into the Barca wall.
The tie then slipped from the visitor's hands in the first 15 minutes of the second half. Manolas scored the second own goal of the night -- and the fifth Barca have benefited from in Europe this season -- and Pique later tapped home after good work from Messi and Suarez.
However, Roma came back into the game. Marc-Andre ter Stegen produced two fine stops from Gregoire Defrel and Diego Perotti before Dzeko deservedly pulled back an away goal.
That good work was undone, though, when more sloppy defending allowed Suarez to rifle home inside the box just three minutes from time, putting a bow on the night and likely the tie.
2. Barcelona don't hit usual standards
Barca won the match handsomely in the end but it didn't feel like an emphatic performance. It didn't even feel like a Champions League quarterfinal at times. Camp Nou took it's time to fill up and a low-key atmosphere was mirrored by a low-key performance from the home team.
There was once again a reliance on Messi, as there was in Sevilla at the weekend when the Argentine forward came off the bench, half fit, and turned the game around. Most things went through him and his fingerprints were on each of the first three goals. However, he didn't look 100 percent again. Neither did Busquets. Or even Iniesta.
When Roma eventually got going in the second half, perhaps spurred on by the realisation they could get at their hosts, Barca, so solid this season, even looked liable in defence. Only Ter Stegen prevented the Italians from leaving with more than one away goal.
To match Real Madrid, who were ruthless against Juventus (3-0) on Tuesday, or even Liverpool, who blew Manchester City away 3-0 on Wednesday, Barca would have to be much better. Of course, it's all about peaking at the right moment, though, and their form this season -- just one loss in 49 games now -- means they're in the position they're in on merit.
3. Roma shoot themselves in the foot
There was a lack of belief from the start from a Roma side missing Radja Nainggolan and Cengiz Under through injury. They topped a group featuring Chelsea and Atletico Madrid to get here but at Camp Nou, for large parts of the match, they looked more like the team that had only dispatched of Shakhtar Donetsk in the last round on away goals.
Eusebio Di Francesco has had a positive impact at the club, helping them reach the last eight of Europe's premier competition for the first time since 2008, but it looks like their journey will end here.
And, unlike when they were beaten 6-1 by Barca in 2015, they weren't even undone by attacking brilliance. Instead, they were the creators of their own downfall, scoring two own goals and then failing to pick up a centre-back inn Pique, who had galloped forward unattended.
There was even time for another mistake. After deservedly dragging themselves back into the game through Dzeko's away goal, they gifted Barca a fourth by failing to clear their lines before the final whistle. The final scoreline flattered the Catalans, but Roma only had themselves to blame.