It would have seemed unthinkable going into the match that a team, 21 points off the pace in Serie A, could topple one of the giants of the footballing world...but that is exactly what happened.
It wasn't necessarily just the defeat but the manner of it. Roma overturned a three-goal deficit without reply from Barca. Lionel Messi even failed to score in either legs.
It's easy to place some blame at Ernesto Valverde's door and it is deserved. Despite what the league and previous results suggested, 'Los Cules' haven't looked their normal dominant selves going into this final part of the season.
One main reason for this is the lack of rotation in their squad. Following the defeat, 'AS' published the amount of minutes that each Barca player has racked up this season for club and country. Eight have far more than the highest player in the Real Madrid squad.
Opposing midfielder Casemiro has played 3,533 minutes for 'Los Blancos', below the number of Messi, Ivan Rakitic, Luis Suarez, Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Gerard Pique and Samuel Umtiti. In fact, Messi, Rakitic and Suarez have racked up more than 4,000.
It is in stark contrast to Zinedine Zidane's approach to rotation, who seems to do it so effortlessly and it has certainly rejuvented Madrid in recent weeks as they look to be entering their best spell of the year.
A reason for these differing views could come down to the squads. Players such as Marco Asensio, Lucas Vazquez and Mateo Kovacic have stepped up for Madrid whilst Andre Gomes, Paco Alcacer, Aleix Vidal and Lucas Digne have not for the Catalan giants.
10 April 2018
In terms of the game itself, a lack of 'Plan B' baffled 'Mundo Deportivo', especially as 'Plan A' was obviously not working. Valverde made all three of his substitutions in the final 10 minutes, when Roma had already scored two goals, in a bizarre move considering one away goal early on would have killed the tie.
Barca needed to just look at Liverpool in the other Champions League tie of the night. After weathering an enslaught of Manchester City pressure, Mohamed Salah clinically equalised for the 'Reds' and their opposition were too dented to come back.
It begs the question why Ousmane Dembele was left on the bench until the 85th minute, with the damage already done. At 20 years old, he has had a tumberlant debut season at the club, but his pace, width and penetration could have offered a second approach, one which Messi seems to relish in.
The season certainly isn't over for Barca. They look a dead-certain bet to win La Liga and will most likely overcome Sevilla in the Copa del Rey final to secure a League-Cup double. However, the European disappointment will run deep and the board will undoubtedly need to go back to the drawing board in the summer.