Overview
A week after losing an important lead against Juventus in the top 4 race in Serie A, AS Roma continued to disappoint when losing to Genoa 1-2 last weekend.
The person who made Roma's UEFA Champions League dream even more chaotic was their legend, Daniele De Rossi. The Italian coach and Genoa dealt another heavy blow to the ambition of the Rome team.
Gian Piero Gasperini's team almost had no time to regret the defeat, as they had to immediately enter the Europa League match just a few days later.
In the competition with Bologna to become the last representative of Italian football left in the Europa League this season, Roma managed to come back to win a draw in the first leg at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara stadium.
The second leg of the round of 16 will take place at Stadio Olimpico next week, where Roma can win a ticket to the quarterfinals to face Lille or Aston Villa. However, ahead of them is an important match in Serie A.
The away game at Como's stadium is not easy for Roma. Gasperini's team has lost 6 of their last 10 away matches, after winning all four away games at the beginning of the season.
Roma also has the worst record in the current matches between the top 6 Serie A teams. However, Giallorossi once won 1-0 against Como at the Olimpico 3 months ago.
On the opposite side, Como is emerging as an interesting phenomenon of the season. Despite losing to Roma in December by a goal from Wesley, the Lombardy team has won both of their last two home games against Roma.
More importantly, Como is maintaining stable form when they have only lost one of their last 8 matches in Serie A. That streak includes 3 consecutive wins against Juventus, Lecce and Cagliari.
In the most recent round, Como impressed when defeating Cagliari 2-1 away thanks to goals from Martin Baturina and Lucas Da Cunha.
Under the leadership of Cesc Fabregas, Como is making a breakthrough. This team even drew with league leaders Inter Milan 0-0 in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-finals.
Having just returned to Serie A less than 2 years after being promoted from Serie B, Como has for the first time surpassed the 50-point mark in the history of the league. However, their ambition does not stop there, as a larger goal is being aimed at is a Champions League spot.
Personnel situation
Gasperini may want to rotate the force for the Europa League match against Bologna, but AS Roma is facing great difficulties in personnel in attack.
Paulo Dybala (knee injury), Artem Dovbyk (brother injury) and Evan Ferguson (ankle injury) are all unable to play. In addition, Matias Soule is also having muscle problems, while key center-back Evan Ndicka is suspended.
However, Roma may welcome the return of Gianluca Mancini after this center-back's suspension in Europe expired in the middle of the week. Midfielder Manu Kone is also ready to reappear in the starting lineup.
In a context of lack of options in attack, Donyell Malen is likely to continue to be given the opportunity to start. Just a few weeks after joining the capital team, the Dutch striker and Soule became Roma's top scorers in Serie A and were also voted Player of the Month of February of the league.
On the opposite side, Como possesses a vibrant attack. Two stars Tasos Douvikas and Nico Paz both only needed one more goal to reach the milestone of 10 goals in the tournament.
Notably, Nico Paz scored against Roma in the most recent match between the two teams at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia in December 2024.
Expected lineup:
Butez, Smolcic, Ramon, Kempf, Valle, Perrone, Da Cunha, Vojvoda, Paz, Baturina, Douvikas.
Svilar, Ghilardi, Mancini, Hermoso, Celik, Cristante, Kone, Wesley, Pisilli, Pellegrini, Malen.
The match between Como and Roma takes place at 0:00 AM on March 16 (Vietnam time).
