Roma awaits the Porto team at Stadio Olimpico to conclude their Europa League knockout playoff round in the pursuit of advancing to the last 16.
In their opening round last week they earned a tie against Porto yet in their history they lost every agreement between both teams. Athletic Bilbao or Lazio represent the potential opponents awaiting the playoff victors following this match.
Roma halted their Porto opponent at Estadio do Dragao with a tied scoreline after a hostile first match took place.
During their infrequent incursion into the opposing half Zeki Celik netted first before Porto responded with a goal from Francisco Moura while Bryan Cristante received a red card and the visitors pulled back.
UEFA competition has provided Roma with an extensive recent legacy as their Conference League victory came in 2022. The Giallorossi then remained a single point ahead of their playoff competitors throughout the league phase.
The team qualified for this year's knockout phase after defeating Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 on matchday 6 but struggled to repeat their previous successive UEFA Europa Conference League semi-final and final runs.
The Serie A revival under Claudio Ranieri has revived Lazio and Roma for potential city rivalry competition in the last-16 stage after an initial chaos plagued by two sackings.
The Rome-born boss Claudio Ranieri has led Roma to nine undefeated Serie A games which produced 21 points totaling an unmatched record among all teams in Italian soccer.
As the capital team prepares to start another continental campaign they have two important achievements to remember since they have won 13 victories from their previous 16 Europa League home matches while keeping clean sheets for three consecutive rounds.
In their most recent match, Roma defeated Parma 1-0 on the road in Serie A. At Stadio Ennio Tardini, Claudio Ranieri's squad had four shots on goal and 72% of the possession, with Matias Soule scored the game-winning goal.
In their last game, FC Porto defeated Farense 1-0 on the road. Francisco Moura scored the goal in the Primeira Liga match at Francisco Moura, despite Porto having two attempts on goal and 67% of the possession.
The first leg between Porto and Roma ends in a 1-1 tie at Estadio do Dragao. Roma has won, Porto has won, and there has been a tie in the last three head-to-head meetings.
With a thrilling 1-0 victory over Maccabi on the last matchday, Porto narrowly avoided an early elimination and advanced to the playoffs, surpassing its countrymen Braga.
On his first day in the dugout, new coach Anselmi, who had recently joined from Mexican team Cruz Azul, guided the Dragons to victory, but he has otherwise had difficulty turning around a struggling team.
Last week's 1-0 victory against lowly Farense put them in third place in the Primeira Liga rankings and halted a streak of five straight league games without a victory, which had never happened before this century.
Although Moura's second goal in as many games clinched Anselmi's first league maximum, Porto is now four points behind Benfica and six points behind leaders Sporting Lisbon.
Already out of both domestic cups, the two-time European champions are therefore placing all their hopes on Europa League success.
Since they have only lost once in seven encounters with Roma, that being a 2-1 loss in 2019, the last time the clubs met in Rome, history will be on their side at Stadio Olimpico.
The Portuguese team has advanced through all three previous meetings: the 1981–82 Cup Winners' Cup, the 2016–17 Champions League qualifying tournament, and the Champions League's round of 16 six years ago.
But Porto has only won five of its past 26 UEFA tournament knockout games, losing 16 of them, and just one of those victories was away from home.
