Roma are in Portugal to contest the first leg of their Europa League Round of 32 clash with Braga on Thursday.
After winning their group with four wins out of six, Roma are now in the knockout stages – looking to progress further than the Round of 16 they reached last year.
To reach that stage this year, they first must get past Braga over a two-legged tie. The first leg takes place away from home on February 18th, before the two sides meet again at Stadio Olimpico seven days later.
Today’s first meeting sees Roma coach Paulo Fonseca not just returning to his home country, but to a club he used to manage. Fonseca won the Portuguese Cup with Braga in 2016, but will need to overcome them if he is to move a step closer towards a first piece of silverware with Roma.
With the quality of opponent increasing since the group stage, Fonseca will have to weigh up his lineup selections carefully.
The coach should not have too many decisions to make about his personnel in defence. Injuries to several players mean the backline will almost certainly consist of Gianluca Mancini, Bryan Cristante and Roger Ibanez.
Further forward, though, Fonseca has more options to choose from. There could be a chance for Edin Dzeko to make his first start in over a month, even though he did not start any games of the group stage.
Amadou Diawara will be another player looking to return to the starting lineup after playing a limited role recently. It is also possible that Stephan El Shaarawy could feature at some point for his second debut for the club.
Opponents Braga go into this game in decent form. Managed by former Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea City boss Carlos Carvalhal, they are unbeaten in their last seven games in all competitions and are third in the Portuguese top flight.
Roma are still the favourites for this tie, though, and will be looking to build up a healthy lead in the first leg.
The game kicks off at 5:55pm UK time and will be available to watch live here.
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