Roma Shares Surge After Stunning Victory Against Barcelona

(Bloomberg) -- Shares in AS Roma jumped the most since 2014 after the Italian soccer club’s dramatic comeback in its UEFA Champions League tie against FC Barcelona, where it shocked the tournament favorites to win a place among the last four teams.

The Rome-based team was expected to crash out of the lucrative competition after losing the quarter-final’s first leg 4-1 in Barcelona. Instead, a 3-0 win in the capital’s Olympic Stadium Wednesday night earned the side known by its supporters as “la Magica” a first semi-final since the 1983-1984 season under the tournament’s away-goals rule.

Teams through to the last four receive a further 7.5 million euros ($9.28 million) from the Champions League prize pot, with a further 15.5 million euros potentially at stake for advancing further. Bookmaker SkyBet had offered odds of 20/1 on Roma progressing on Tuesday, meaning an implied probability of just 4.8 percent.

The Champions League win achieved some unity among politicians in a country that is still in turmoil after inconclusive elections last month. Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi said on Twitter that it was a night of great pride for the city and the whole country, while outgoing Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said he’d become a Roma fan for one night only.

To contact the reporters on this story: Albertina Torsoli in Geneva at atorsoli@bloomberg.net, Joe Easton in London at jeaston7@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net, John Viljoen

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