Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Date: 17/02/2016
Kick-off: 07:45 PM GMT / 2:45 PM EST
Match
Roma News
Roma have enjoyed a wonderful turnaround in fortunes following the appointment of Luciano Spaletti as manager and the Italian giants are currently on a four match winning streak after defeating Carpi 3-1 last time out.
Now Roma prepare for a clash against Real Madrid in the Round of 16 Champions League encounter on Wednesday night and one can be sure that Spaletti’s men will have to perform extremely well in order to be able to claim a good result in the first leg.
Injury Doubts: Ezequiel Ponce, Norbert Gyömber, Elio Capradossi
Roma Probable Lineup: Szczesny; Manolas, Digne, Rudiger, Vainqueur; Nainggolan, Perotti, Salah, Florenzi; Dzeko, El Shaarawy
Real Madrid News
Real Madrid continued their pressure at the top of the table on Barcelona with a 4-2 victory over Athletic Bilbao last weekend in a topsy-turvy encounter and the match would have been a good preparation for Los Blancos for the Champions League clash against Roma on Wednesday.
Roma are showing quite a resurgence in Serie A over the past few weeks and while Real Madrid are expected to establish a first leg advantage in midweek, Los Blancos will have to do very well in order to come away from the clash with a victory.
Injury Doubts: Gareth Bale, Marcelo, Pepe
Real Madrid Probable Lineup: Navas; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Danilo; Modric, Kroos, Isco; James, Ronaldo, Benzema
Prediction
Roma actually eliminated Real Madrid when these two sides squared off against each other in the knockout stages of the Champions League back in 2008 and the Italians will have the belief that they can replicate the feat from eight years ago this time around as well.
However, Madrid look the stronger side heading into the encounter and should have enough about them to be able to claim a narrow victory on the night.
Roma 1 – 2 Real Madrid
