Roma host BATE Borisov on Wednesday night at the Stadio Olimpico in their last game of group E in the Champions League, looking to win in order to progress to the round of 16.
The Giallorossi are currently second in the group with five points, behind already qualified Barcelona. Bate have four points and can qualify if they win and Bayer Leverkusen don’t win against the Spanish club in the other fixture.
Roma are facing a difficult moment, having not won in three Serie A games, losing at home to Atalanta, and in their last Champions League game Rudi Garcia’s men were taught a lesson as they lost 6-1 at the Nou Camp.
Bate played their last league game a month ago, and have since lost their two games against Barcelona before the 1-1 draw against Bayer Leverkusen.
The only previous game between the two clubs, which is also the only game Roma has ever played against a club from Belarus, was the game between them earlier in the group stage when Roma lost 3-2 at Bate. A terrible first half saw Roma 3-0 at half time but Vasilis Torosidis and Gervinho scored goals for Roma after the break and Alessandro Florenzi went close to equalising when he hit the bar.
Florenzi is set to start as right back on Wednesday night as Maicon is out with an injury and Daniele De Rossi could start at the back as Antonio Rudiger may be dropped by Garcia.
A crucial return for Roma is Mohamed Salah, who will be in the squad for the first time since he got injured in the derby against Lazio. He may start on the bench though, as Iago Falque is set to complete the attacking trio with Edin Dzeko and Gervinho.
Bate coach Aleksandr Yermakovich can count on more or less the same side who draw against Leverkusen. Captain Igor Stasevich, however, is set to undergo knee surgery and is unavailable to play against Roma.
Form Guide: Roma (W-D-L-L-D) Bate Borisov (W-W-L-L-D)
Expected Starting XI’s:
Roma: Szczesny; Florenzi, Manolas, De Rossi, Digne; Nainggolan, Keita, Pjanic; Gervinho, Dzeko, Iago Falque.
BATE Borisov: Chernik; Zhavnerchik, Polyakov, Milunovic, Mladenovic; Volodko, Yablonsky; Hleb Rios, Mozolevski, Gordejchuk.
Infographic from www.sporticos.com
