Following Roma’s 3-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk in the first leg, it’s safe to say that Paulo Fonseca’s side already have one foot the in Europa League quarter-finals.
The two sides meet for the second leg of the Round of 16 tie on Thursday, with the Ukrainians needing to stage an unlikely turnaround on home soil.
Despite enjoying 63% possession in the first leg, Shakhtar were unable to make the most of their dominance.
Ultimately, goals from Lorenzo Pellegrini, Stephan El Shaarawy and Gianluca Mancini got the job done for Roma last week.
Shakhtar followed up their first-leg loss with a thumping 4-0 victory over Desna in the Ukrainian Premier League on Sunday.
Manor Solomon and Tete both scored twice Sunday’s win, meaning Shakhtar have won 11 of their 18 league matches this term.
Shakhtar have only suffered one league defeat this season, although six draws mean they sit four points behind Dynamo Kiev.
Despite suffering an indifferent campaign up to now, it is worth pointing out that Shakhtar have won each of their last four home games in the Europa League.
On the flip side, Roma have only lost one of their nine Europa League outings this term, picking up seven wins and one draw along the way.
The Italian side crushed Braga 5-1 on aggregate to advance from the Round of 32, having taken 13 points from a possible 18 in the group stage.
Following wins over Fiorentina and Genoa, Roma suffered a shock 2-0 loss to struggling Parma in Serie A on Sunday.
Roma now sit sixth in the Italian top-flight table – two points off the top four and 15 points behind first-place Inter Milan.
Head-to-head: Shakhtar and Roma have faced each other seven times over the years, with four wins coming for Shakhtar and three for Roma.
The Ukrainian side were enjoying a four-match winning streak against Roma, although the Italian side have now won each of the last two meetings.
It is also worth noting that five of the seven games between these two sides have produced over 2.5 goals.
Team news: Shakhtar will be without injured defensive midfielders Maksym Malyshev and Taras Stepanenko on Thursday.
As for Roma, Nicolo Zaniolo, Jordan Veretout, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Juan Jesus and Chris Smalling are all currently sidelined through injury.
Roma may have the better recent record in this fixture, but let’s not forget that Shakhtar have beaten the Italians in each of their three home games over the years.
Forebet predicts that Shakhtar will secure a high-scoring victory on Thursday, although it may not be enough to see the Ukrainian side progress in the competition.
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