GIALLOROSSI YORKSHIRE BLOG
Roma are set to name more Italians than foreigners in a starting lineup for the first time this season when they take on Porto in the Champions League Round of 16 tonight.
The Giallorossi’s midfield is expected to comprise of Daniele De Rossi, Bryan Cristante and Lorenzo Pellegrini, with Nicolo Zaniolo and Stephan El Shaarawy likely to occupy the wings. Further back, Robin Olsen faces a late fitness test, meaning Antonio Mirante has a chance of keeping his place in goal, while at right-back, a muscle injury to Rick Karsdorp means either Alessandro Florenzi or Davide Santon will come in. Roma reached the knockout stages of the UCL after finishing second in Group G, behind holders Real Madrid. They will be hoping to emulate their achievements in the competition from last season, when they defied all expectations to come within touching distance of a first European final since 1991. It was a major improvement on the previous season’s showing in the Champions League, when they were dumped out in the play-off round by none other than tonight’s opponents, Porto. There have been several personnel changes since then, with only Juan Jesus, Diego Perotti, Edin Dzeko, Kostas Manolas and De Rossi remaining from the starting lineup that lost 3-0 in the second leg. Manolas could return to the lineup for tonight’s clash, after a brief injury lay-off. The other good news for the Giallorossi’s defence is that Porto will be without key strikers Vincent Aboubakar and Moussa Marega , while winger Jesus Corona - who scored the final goal in the last meeting between the two sides - is suspended. Nonetheless, it should be a competitive affair. Roma have never beaten Porto in four previous meetings, and the Portuguese side were on fire in the group stages, only dropping two points. Domestically, they are top of the Primeira Liga, although they have drawn their two most recent matches. Roma’s goalscoring prowess gives them cause for optimism though - the Lupi have reached the last eight of the competition whenever they have scored over 12 goals. Having already netted 11 in Europe this season, Roma will be hoping that the tradition isn’t broken this year. The game gets underway at 8pm UK time and will be shown live on BT Sport 3.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
samuel bannister
Founder and editor of Giallorossi Yorkshire, who is also a columnist for Roma's official website about the women's team. Categories
All
Archives
October 2019
|