There will be no Champions League for Wojciech Szczesny this season (or Thomas Vermaelen) as Roma were dumped out of qualifying by Porto, who thumped them in Rome.

With a 1-1 draw claimed at Porto last week, a game they most likely would have won had Vermaelen not got himself sent off, Roma saw another two reds brandished on Tuesday night, playing the last 40 minutes of the game with 9 men.

At the time of the first dismissal – Daniele de Rossi on 39 minutes – the visitors held just a one-goal lead on the night, but when Emerson was given his marching orders after 50, Roma could only hold the door closed for another 23 minutes before first Layun and then, two minutes later, Corona, won the tie for Porto.

Szczesny returned to the starting lineup for this Champions League qualifier after missing the first leg due to a lack of match fitness. “I’m very disappointed. It was a big game for us, but not just that we lost, the way we lost control of the game was very disappointing,” Woj told Mediaset Premium.

“We have to lift our heads and fight. I thought we were prepared for the game and Porto were there for us to beat. I don’t think we lost the game in terms of quality, but because we didn’t keep our heads.

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“If you play down to 10 or even nine men, it’s very hard. At the end the players were dead. We tried our all, but those red cards cost us.

“He [coach, Luciano Spalletti] told us to keep our heads and how important it was to finish with 11 players because of what happened in the previous game. It’s our fault for not doing the things we were told.

“We have to take responsibility for what happened today, because it wasn’t supposed to happen.”

Italy will have only two sides in this year’s competition – Juventus and Napoli. The draw for the group stage will take place on Thursday.

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