Fonseca to face another former club as Roma draw Shakhtar in Europa League

Roma have been drawn against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Europa League Round of 16.

After beating Braga 5-1 over two legs, Roma advanced to the Round of 16 for the second consecutive season.

Last season, they were eliminated by eventual competition winners Sevilla at this stage. This time, they will be trying to do better against Shakhtar.

The draw marks another visit to a former club for coach Paulo Fonseca, who was in charge of Shakhtar the last time they played Roma in 2018. On that occasion, Roma advanced from the Champions League Round of 16, thanks in part to a Bruno Peres goalline clearance in the first leg and an Edin Dzeko goal in the second.

Fonseca and assistant manager Nuno Campos are not the only men at Roma with a connection to Shakhtar. Attacking midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan also had a spell with the Ukrainian side earlier in his career.

Roma have never progressed past the Round of 16 stage since the UEFA Cup rebranded as the Europa League. They will be hoping to do so this time.

The first leg will take place at Stadio Olimpico on Thursday 11th March, before the away leg seven days later.

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