When Roma needed a captain's performance from Daniele De Rossi, he knew exactly what was required.
De Rossi venerates Roy Keane and Steven Gerrard—he has described both players as his "idols"—and his performance in Roma's sensational 3-0 second-leg Champions League quarter-final comeback against Barcelona carried strong echoes of Keane and Gerrard's signature displays in the competition.
The battle-hardened De Rossi, who wears the No. 16 shirt partly in tribute to Keane, has built his reputation upon blood-and-thunder performances in the midfield engine room, but just like Keane against Juventus in 1999, and Gerrard against AC Milan in 2005, in Roma's hour of need, he led from the front.