Roma travel to Spain on Tuesday night in the Champions League to face holders Barcelona at the Nou Camp, knowing any kind of positive result will give them a massive boost in their quest to qualify for the knockout stages of this seasons competition.
The Giallorossi head to face the Catalan giants with morale slightly dented following their 2-2 draw with lowly Bologna in Serie A on Saturday, while Barca annihilated their bitter rivals Real Madrid 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday night in one of the most one-sided games between the sides in some time.
Rudi Garcia’s squad currently sit second in Group E on five points, five behind Tuesday nights opponents, but crucially one ahead of third place Bayer Leverkusen who they beat 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico three weeks ago. They picked up their only away point to date against the Germans two weeks previous to that win, following an outrageous 4-4 at the BayArena.
The Giallorossi suffered a 3-2 defeat to BATE Borisov on matchday two in their other away fixture in the group, and haven’t tasted a victory away from home in the Champions League since beating FC Basel 3-2 in November 2010.
Barca, meanwhile, are unbeaten in the group to date, sitting top on ten points. Luis Enrique’s men have won both their home matches in the group so far, defeating Bayer 2-1 on matchday two, and BATE 3-0 three weeks ago. The Spaniards are on a run of eight straight victories at home in the competition, and have only lost one of the last 35 home Champions League encounters, losing to Bayern Munich 3-0 in 2013, with 28 of those games being victories.
The two sides have met on three previous occasions in the Champions League, with the latest encounter ending a 1-1 at the Stadio Olimpico in September. In the 2001/2002 season they met in the second group stages of the competition, with I Lupi managing a 1-1 draw at the Nou Camp, and then beating Barca 3-0 in Rome a week later. The Spaniards still won the group despite these results and the Romans were eliminated from the competition in third place in the group.
Rudi Garcia’s side will be missing forward Mohamed Salah through injury, while captain Francesco Totti and Daniele De Rossi are doubts with thigh injuries. Gervinho is expected to start after missing Saturdays game with Bologna.
Lionel Messi is expected to start for Barcelona following a substitute appearance against Real Madrid on Saturday, after spending the previous eight weeks out injured. Javier Mascherano is doubtful with a dead-leg, while Rafinha and Douglas are ruled out with knee and wrist injuries respectively.
Form Guide: Barcelona (W-W-W-W-W) Roma (W-L-W-W-D)
Expected Starting XIs:
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Alves, Piqué, Vermaelen, Alba; Busquets, Sergi Roberto, Iniesta; Messi, Suárez, Neymar.
Roma: Szczesny; Florenzi, Manolas, Rudiger, Digne; De Rossi, Nainggolan, Pjanic, Falque, Dzeko, Gervinho.
Infographic provided by sporticos.com
