Real Madrid take on Italian side Roma in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16.
Real Madrid resume their campaign in Europe’s top club competition some two months after going unbeaten throughout the group stages, in which they recorded five wins and one draw.
Zinedine Zidane makes his Champions League debut as Real Madrid coach against Roma, the very team against whom he made his bow in the competition as a Real Madrid player. The 24 October 2001 saw the Frenchman make his European debut for the Whites in a 1-1 draw against Roma at the Santiago Bernabéu. As a Real Madrid player, Zidane has a good record against Roma, having been involved in three wins,one draw and one defeat.
The 10-time European champions qualified top of qualification Group A in December, ahead of Paris St Germain. At home they recorded three wins, Shakhtar Donetsk (4-0), PSG (1-0) and Malmö (8-0). On the road the Whites won in Sweden (0-2) and Ukraine (3-4) with a draw in France (0-0).
Indeed, not only are Real Madrid undefeated in the competition, they also are unbeaten in their last nine outings. The Whites go in to the round unbeaten and as the top scorers, along with Bayern (19 goals).
Real Madrid arrive at the game boosted by a 4-2 win at home to Athletic Club on Saturday that left them third in the Liga BBVA. Zidane has guided the team to five wins and a draw since taking the helm at the beginning of January, but the team have struggled on their two away trips under the Frenchman drawing 1-1 at Real Betis and scraping past Granada 2-1.
Roma also come into the game in excellent form. The Italians are on a four-game winning streak and they’ve only been beaten once in their last 13 outings. Their form at the Stadio Olimpico is even more impressive. They’ve only fallen to defeat in one of their 16 games there this term (after nine wins and six draws). In the Champions League they won their home game against Bayer Leverkusen (3-2), whilst managing draws against Barcelona (1-1) and BATE Borisov (0-0).
Miralem Pjanic tops the goalscoring charts for the Italians with 10 goals this season. Roma are looking to make the quarter-finals of Europe’s top club competition for the first time since 2008. Roma have bolstered their squad with the winter transfer window additions of El Shaarawy, Zukanović and Diego Perotti, whilst Iturbe and Gervinho left the club.
Roma are currently fourth in Serie A after a 3-1 win away at Carpi last Friday. Under their new coach Luciano Spalletti, Roma have drawn one, lost one and then won four on the trot.
Head to head
This will be the ninth time Roma and Real Madrid have crossed paths in European competitions, so far only in the Champions League – six times in the group stages and twice in the last-16 back in 2007-08. The first time Los Blancos visited Roma at the Stadio Olimpico was on 11 September 2001, while the most recent meeting was on 19 February 2008, when the Italian side qualified through an aggregate score of 4-2.
Roma’s home record against La Liga sides stands at six wins, one draw and five defeats from 11 meetings. Meanwhile, Real Madrid have failed to win any of their last eight away games against Italian teams, drawing four and losing four of those.
Match Facts
- This is the 19th consecutive season in which Real Madrid – who finished top of Group A ahead of Paris SG – have reached the knockout stages of the Champions League, the longest run in the history of the competition. They’ve reached the semi-finals in each of the last five seasons.
- Roma have made it to the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time since 2010/11. They were eliminated by Shakhtar Donetsk in the Last 16.
- Roma finished second in Group E behind Barcelona to reach the knockout stages despite picking up only six points and conceding 16 goals (both records for teams that reached the latter stages, the first one being a joint record with Zenit’s 2013/14 team).
- The only previous encounter between Roma and Real Madrid in the knockout stages of the Champions League saw the Italian side progress 4-2 on aggregate in the Last 16 of the 2007/08 edition.
- Real Madrid have won three of their four away games against Roma in the Champions League (L1). They’ve also never failed to score in their away games versus the Italian side.
- Roma have won only two of their last 15 Champions League games (D6 L7), that came against CSKA Moscow in September 2014 and Bayer Leverkusen in November 2015.
- Roma have kept only one clean sheet in their last 20 Champions League games, against BATE Borisov in their last outing (0-0, December 2015).
- Real Madrid are one of two clubs still unbeaten in the Champions League this season, the other being Barcelona.
Team News
Roma
Totti is expected to be fit following a calf problem, while the same applies to fellow long-serving midfielder De Rossi. Spalletti is expected to stick with the 4-2-3-1 formation he has used in the last two outings, although top scorer Miralem Pjanic could return to the starting lineup.
Real Madrid
Real Madrid will once again be without Gareth Bale for this match as he continues to struggle with a persistent calf problem. Marcelo (shoulder) and Pepe (foot) both missed the match at the weekend, but the former is back in the squad and could be recalled by Zidane.
Possible Line-ups
Roma: Szczęsny; Rüdiger, De Rossi, Manolas; Florenzi, Pjanić, Keita, Nainggolan, Digne; Salah, Džeko.
Real Madrid: Navas; Marcelo, Varane, Sergio Ramos, Danilo; Modrić, Kroos, Isco; James Rodríguez, Benzema, Ronaldo.
From : SS.com
