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Roma out to turn tables on Shakhtar Donetsk

Roma briefly led at Shakhtar Donetsk but, after the Ukrainian side turned round the first leg, must now retrieve a 2-1 deficit to reach their first quarter-final in a decade.

Cengiz Ünder after scoring for Roma at Shakhtar
Cengiz Ünder after scoring for Roma at Shakhtar ©AFP/Getty Images

AS Roma have work to do if they are to overcome FC Shakhtar Donetsk and reach their first UEFA Champions League quarter-final since 2008.

•The Italian side opened the scoring in the first leg in Kharkiv, Cengiz Ünder breaking the deadlock four minutes before half-time on his competition debut. Goals in the second period from Facundo Ferreyra and Fred turned the match in Shakhtar's favour, however, giving them a slender lead to take to the Stadio Olimpico.

• Roma, who finished first in Group C this season, are in the round of 16 for the sixth time. However, they have not featured in the quarter-finals in a decade, and have lost their last three ties at this stage.

• Shakhtar have lost two of their three last-16 ties – the sole exception their first appearance, a 6-2 aggregate win against Roma in the spring of 2011.

Previous meetings
• Shakhtar recorded a comfortable victory against Roma when the teams met at this stage of the 2010/11 competition. First-half goals from Jádson (29), Douglas Costa (36) and Luiz Adriano (41) gave the Ukrainian side a 3-2 first-leg victory in Rome despite Razvan Raţ's own goal (28) and a Jérémy Ménez strike (61) for Roma.

Highlights: Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 Roma

• The line-ups at the Stadio Olimpico on 16 February 2011 were:
Roma: Doni, Cassetti, Burdisso, Mexès, Riise (Castellini 46), Taddei, De Rossi, Perrotta, Ménez, Totti, Vučinić (Borriello 68).
Shakhtar: Pyatov, Srna, Chygrynskiy, Rakitskiy, Raţ, Hübschman, Mkhitaryan (Vitsenets 78), Douglas Costa (Eduardo 66), Jádson (Alex Teixeira 85), Willian, Luiz Adriano.

• Mircea Lucescu's team completed the job back in Donetsk thanks to Willian's double (18, 58), either side of Marco Borriello's 28th-minute penalty miss for the visitors, and a late Eduardo effort (87). Roma lost defender Philippe Mexès to a second yellow card four minutes before half-time.

• Taras Stepanenko was an unused Shakhtar substitute in both legs.

• When the teams met in the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League group stage, Shakhtar won 1-0 at home thanks to Ciprian Marica's 61st-minute goal.

• Roma were 4-0 victors in Italy, Rodrigo Taddei, Francesco Totti, Daniele De Rossi and David Pizarro all scoring in the final 24 minutes.

• The teams for the Stadio Olimpico game on 12 September 2006 were:
Roma: Doni, Panucci, Ferrari, Chivu, Tonetto, De Rossi, Aquilani (Pizarro 62), Taddei, Perrotta, Mancini (Cassetti 87), Totti (Montella 80).
Shakhtar: Shutkov, Srna, Hübschman, Lewandowski, Raţ, Matuzalém (Gai 72, Jádson 81), Tymoshchuk, Duljaj, Marica, Elano, Brandão
(Aghahowa 63).

Match background

Roma
• Roma's round of 16 record is W2 L3. They beat Olympique Lyonnais (2006/07) and Real Madrid CF (2007/08) in their first two appearances, but have since lost to Arsenal FC (2008/09), Shakhtar (2010/11) and Madrid (2015/16).

• Roma have lost their last five matches in the round of 16. They were beaten 2-0 both home and away by Madrid two seasons ago

Shakhtar's Marlos (left) tries to escape Roma midfielder Kevin Strootman in the first leg
Shakhtar's Marlos (left) tries to escape Roma midfielder Kevin Strootman in the first leg©AFP/Getty Images

• The Giallorossi have played two other home games with Ukrainian visitors, both against FC Dynamo Kyiv. The teams' meeting in the 2004/05 group stage ended in a 3-0 forfeit win for Dynamo after the match was abandoned at half-time; Simone Perrotta and Totti got the goals as Roma beat Dynamo 2-0 in Italy in the 2007/08 group stage.

• Roma's record at home to visitors from Ukraine is therefore W2 L2. Overall against Ukraine clubs it is W3 L6. That 2010/11 tie with Shakhtar is their sole knockout contest before this one.

• The 2-1 victory at Qarabağ FK on matchday two was Roma's first win in eight UEFA Champions League matches, home and away and including qualifying, since a 3-2 home victory over Bayer 04 Leverkusen on 4 November 2015. Matchday four's 3-0 scalp of Chelsea FC and the 1-0 home win against Qarabağ in their last group fixture means they have now won only four of their last 22 games in the competition (D8 L10).

• Roma drew 0-0 at home to Club Atlético de Madrid on matchday one this season. Despite the defeats of Chelsea and Qarabağ, Roma have won just three of their last ten home matches in the UEFA Champions League – qualifying included – losing four.

• Their tally of 11 points was the lowest total among this season's eight group winners.

• Roma's most recent away first-leg defeat, against Olympique Lyonnais in last season's UEFA Europa League round of 16 (2-4), contributed to a 5-4 aggregate loss – giving them the aggregate record W6 L14 when they lost the first leg away, including defeats in the last six such ties.

• The Italian club have won one and lost one of the ties in which they went down 2-1 away from home in the first game. They beat Brøndby IF 3-1 in the second leg of the 1995/96 UEFA Cup third round but lost 2-1 at home to Club Atlético de Madrid in the quarter-finals of the same competition in 1998/99.

• Roma's record in four UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W1 L3:
6-7 v Arsenal FC, 2008/09 UEFA Champions League round of 16
3-4 v Real Zaragoza, 1986/87 European Cup Winners' Cup first round
3-4 v Liverpool FC, 1983/84 European Champion Clubs' Cup final
4-2 v IFK Norrköping, 1982/83 UEFA Cup second round

Shakhtar
• Since that 2011 win against Roma, Shakhtar have lost on both their last-16 appearances: against Borussia Dortmund in 2012/13 (2-2 home, 0-3 away) and FC Bayern München in 2014/15 (0-0 home, 0-7 away). The second-leg loss to Bayern is their heaviest European defeat.

• The Ukrainian side have therefore lost their last two round of 16 away games in the UEFA Champions League, conceding ten goals and scoring none.

Shakhtar celebrate Fred's first-leg winner
Shakhtar celebrate Fred's first-leg winner©AFP/Getty Images

• The Pitmen's record in two-legged knockout ties against Serie A clubs is W1 L3, with that 2010/11 defeat of Roma their sole aggregate success.

• Shakhtar have already suffered a heavy defeat away to a Serie A side this season, going down 3-0 at SSC Napoli on matchday five – although they did beat the same opponents 2-1 at home in Kharkiv –  to leave them with the record W1 D2 L7 in Italy, that 2011 win at Roma their only victory.

• Paulo Fonseca's side registered a win and two defeats in their Group F away fixtures, losing 2-0 at Manchester City on matchday two before a 2-1 success at Feyenoord ahead of the loss in Naples.

• Shakhtar had won their previous five European away games before losing at City, and have been victorious in nine of their last 13 matches outside Ukraine, losing the other four.

• The Pitmen have won 15 of the 19 UEFA competition ties in which they were victorious in the home first leg, although they lost the most recent, against BSC Young Boys in last season's third qualifying round (2-0 home, 0-2 away, 2-4 penalties). That ended a run of seven straight aggregate successes after a home first-leg victory, including wins against Tottenham Hotspur FC and Olympique de Marseille in the triumphant 2008/09 UEFA Cup campaign.

• When winning 2-1 at home in the first leg, Shakhtar's aggregate record is W1 L1. They were knocked out by AS Monaco FC in the 1979/80 UEFA Cup first round (0-2 away) but beat Birkirkara FC in the first qualifying round of the 1998/99 UEFA Cup (4-0 away).

• Shakhtar lost their only previous UEFA penalty shoot-out:
1-4 v Club Brugge KV, 2002/03 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round

Coach and player links
• Have played together:
Juan Jesus & Taison (CA Internacional 2010)
Alisson & Fred (CA Internacional 2013)
Allison & Alan Patrick (CA Internacional 2013–14)

• Taison and Juan Jesus were team-mates as Brazil's CA Internacional won the 2010 Copa Libertadores.

• International team-mates:
Alisson & Taison, Fred, Bernard (Brazil)

Match facts

Roma
UEFA Champions League squad changes
In: none
Out: Héctor Moreno, Abdullahi Nura

• Diego Perrotti's next booking will incur a ban.

• Roma lost 2-0 at home to AC Milan on 25 February but then ended Napoli's ten-game winning streak in Serie A with a 4-2 victory in Naples on 3 March. On Friday, they won 3-0 at home to Torino FC.

• Kostas Manolas (not scored for Roma since 5 November), Daniele De Rossi (28 May) and Lorenzo Pellegrini (30 December) all ended their respective waits for a goal in the win against Torino.

• The Giallorossi have won only two of their last seven home games in all competitions (D1 L4). The 5-2 Serie A defeat of Benevento on 11 February and the Torino match are the only times in their last nine matches at the Stadio Olimpico that they managed to score more than once.

• Edin Džeko scored twice against Napoli, taking his tally for Roma to 50 goals. The Bosnian striker is the first player to score 50 goals in the Bundesliga, Premier League and Serie A.

• Eight of the 23 Serie A goals Roma have conceded this season have come in the final 15 minutes.

• Roma had conceded two goals in each of their previous three games before keeping a clean sheet against Torino.

• Alessandro Florenzi missed a penalty in the 1-0 home defeat against UC Sampdoria on 28 January. It was Roma's fourth penalty failure in all competitions this season after Diego Perotti (two) and Edin Džeko; despite Grégoire Defrel's successful spot kick against Benevento, the Giallorossi have missed four of their last six penalties.

• Džeko missed a penalty in the Coppa Italia defeat against Torino FC on 20 December, his third consecutive failure from the spot for Roma.

• Cengiz Ünder scored his first Roma goal in the 1-0 win at AC Chievo Verona on 4 February; the 20-year-old Turkish forward now has six in his last seven appearances.

• Rick Karsdorp has been out since October and has undergone an operation following his second serious knee injury of the season.

• Maxime Gonalons had been out since January 6 with a calf injury but returned as an 89th-minute substitute against Torino. Daniele De Rossi was replaced against Napoli after twisting his left ankle but started on Friday.

Shakhtar
UEFA Champions League squad changes
In: Dodô, Ruslan Fomin, Vyacheslav Tankovskiy
Out: Márcio Azevedo

• Darijo Srna is suspended. Taison and Facundo Ferreya are a booking away from a ban.

• Shakhtar opened the second phase of the Ukrainian Premier League season with a 3-0 win at third-placed FC Vorskla Poltava on Friday – their fourth success in as many league games in 2018, with 16 goals scored and none conceded.

• They had ended the first phase of the season with a 3-0 win at FC Karpaty Lviv on 4 March – the Ukrainian league has now split into two six-team groups.

• The Pitmen have lost two of their last five away games, and have kept five clean sheets in 16 away games in all competitions this season.

• Ferreyra scored twice at Vorskla and now has 16 goals in his last 16 games for Shakhtar. He has 19 in the Ukrainian Premier League this season – six more than he managed in the whole of 2016/17.

• Bernard has struck eight in his last 15 outings in all competitions, and his haul of six in the Ukrainian Premier League this term is already his best return in five seasons at Shakhtar.

• Marlos, who was named 2017 Player of the Year by both the Football Federation of Ukraine and Shakhtar fans, scored Shakhtar's third on Friday and has 13 league goals this season – his highest total in seven seasons in Ukraine.