Tuesday 13th March 2018 Kick off 1945hrs Roma v Shakthar Donetsk Football – Europe – Champions League The Champions League is often seen as a closed shop when it gets to the latter stages with the big names tending to dominate. Two teams who would certainly not be regarded as being in Europe’s elite meet in Rome on Tuesday with it all to play for from the first leg. Shakthar hold a narrow lead over their opponents but Roma will feel they can turn that round and have the added advantage of getting an important away goal. It could be a night of twists and turns in the eternal city.
It’s been a strange season for Roma in many ways as they adjust to a fist campaign under a new manager in Eusebio Di Francesco, a new sporting director and the loss of Mohammed Salah who was their most creative and productive player. They have been able to maintain their place within the top teams of Italian football and sit third and well placed to qualify for next year’s Champions League. Their results in the big games have been somewhat inconsistent which may not be overly surprising in such a competitive league and due to the transitive nature of this season for Roma. Having lost at home to Milan directly after their first leg with Shakhtar, Roma have picked up maximum points against Napoli and Torino. The performance and win over the former of those teams was probably their best of the season as they defeated the team from Naples 4-2 away from home. It’s that level of performance that they have to show more of in order to compete with Napoli and Juventus for the title in season’s to come but also suggests they are on the right track. Tuesday’s game is another big milestone in the team’s development and qualifying for the last eight of the Champions League would be a significant achievement.
Shakthar have only ever reached the knockout stages once before despite being regular participants in the Champions League. That came three seasons ago when drawn with Bayern Munich and similar to this year, they were also drawn at home in the first leg and looked like being in with a shout heading into the return game. Those hopes were quickly extinguished as the Germans romped to a 7-0 win. Whilst it is unlikely that the Ukrainians will be one the end of that sort of result again, it reaffirms to them that although they have a lead from the first leg, there is an awful long way to go before they qualify for the quarter finals for the first time in their history. Performances on the road in the Champions League have been traditionally poor, and they have managed only two wins from their last 12 away games from the group stage onwards. One of those victories did come in this year’s group stage as they defeated Feyenoord 2-1. Coach Paulo Fonseca will be looking for his team to be much more competitive than on their last visit to Italy when they lost 3-0 to Napoli back in December.
Roma v Shakthar Donetsk Betting Tip
This was always shaping up to be a very close encounter between two evenly matched clubs over the two legs, and the game in Ukraine three weeks ago done nothing to dispel that. Roma will have been glad to get that away goal but also somewhat frustrated that they could not get a better result having taken the lead in the first half. Shakthar responded as well as they could have hoped after the break and could even have scored a third late on. As it is, they travel to Italy knowing they can afford to even lose the game and still progress – for Roma it is simple, they have to win. Their home form in the Champions League has been very inconsistent down the years but they are unbeaten from this year’s group stage with two wins and a draw. Considering their group featured Chelsea and Atletico Madrid that was no mean feat. I alluded to their general inconsistency this season earlier in the preview and I think that’s what this game boils down to. If it’s the Roma that lost at home to Milan then they will most likely exit the competition, however if it’s the Roma that romped past Napoli a couple of weeks ago then they will have too much firepower for the poor travellers, Shakthar.
I am inclined to lean towards the latter of those two scenarios and fancy the home team to have enough to get past their visitors.
Roma 8/11 @ Betfair
