Rome (dpa) - Prestige and a considerable amount of money are up for
grabs when Roma and Manchester City face off Wednesday in Rome's
Stadio Olimpico, chasing a place in the round of 16 of the Champions
League.
With the winter transfer window opening from New Year,
financial managers of both sides are keen on the roughly 12 million euros (14.8 million dollars) available for qualifying behind Group E winners Bayern Munich.
The two clubs also look to improve their recent European resumes, as Roma last made it to the knock-out stage in 2011, while Manchester went past the group stage only in the previous edition of the tournament.
Roma and City go into the game level on five points with CSKA Moscow in a complicated qualifying scenario that sees Roma prevail over the Russians in the head-to-head.
CSKA, who visit Bayern, have the upper hand on City thanks to a draw and a win, and could get into the Europa League via third-place even by losing in Munich.
If CSKA do not win, Roma could qualify through a scoreless draw, benefiting from the away-goal rule as they drew 1-1 in Manchester in late September.
If CSKA lose, City would progress with a score draw which matches or improves on the 1-1 result Roma secured on their visit to Manchester.
The Giallorossi had a bittersweet showing at the weekend, falling two goals behind early in a home game to underdogs Sassuolo, but fought back to snatch a last-gasp 2-2 draw from an Adem Ljajic brace despite the dismissal of Daniele De Rossi.
"If we play as we did in the last 70 minutes [against Sassuolo] we can win and give the qualification to our fans, who on Wednesday will fill the stadium and give us a hand," la Repubblica quoted winger Alessandro Florenzi as saying.
The Citizens are on a positive four-match winning run and moved within three points of Premier League leaders Chelsea, but Argentine defender Pablo Zabaleta sounded wary of the game in the Italian capital.
"Rome is always a very difficult place to go and win," he told the Guardian. "They have a very good team and they're second in the (Serie A) league. If we continue playing in this way we'll have a good chance to qualify."
Weakening the English champions is the absence with injury of Argentine striker Sergio Aguero while Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure is suspended.
Toure will not be able to tackle his fellow countryman Gervinho, who only played the second half for Roma on Saturday, when veteran Francesco Totti rested and De Rossi was able to enjoy an enforced early bath.
Roma's local rivals Lazio also offered City a helping hand as they will host them for a post-game training session on Thursday morning.
With the winter transfer window opening from New Year,
financial managers of both sides are keen on the roughly 12 million euros (14.8 million dollars) available for qualifying behind Group E winners Bayern Munich.
The two clubs also look to improve their recent European resumes, as Roma last made it to the knock-out stage in 2011, while Manchester went past the group stage only in the previous edition of the tournament.
Roma and City go into the game level on five points with CSKA Moscow in a complicated qualifying scenario that sees Roma prevail over the Russians in the head-to-head.
CSKA, who visit Bayern, have the upper hand on City thanks to a draw and a win, and could get into the Europa League via third-place even by losing in Munich.
If CSKA do not win, Roma could qualify through a scoreless draw, benefiting from the away-goal rule as they drew 1-1 in Manchester in late September.
If CSKA lose, City would progress with a score draw which matches or improves on the 1-1 result Roma secured on their visit to Manchester.
The Giallorossi had a bittersweet showing at the weekend, falling two goals behind early in a home game to underdogs Sassuolo, but fought back to snatch a last-gasp 2-2 draw from an Adem Ljajic brace despite the dismissal of Daniele De Rossi.
"If we play as we did in the last 70 minutes [against Sassuolo] we can win and give the qualification to our fans, who on Wednesday will fill the stadium and give us a hand," la Repubblica quoted winger Alessandro Florenzi as saying.
The Citizens are on a positive four-match winning run and moved within three points of Premier League leaders Chelsea, but Argentine defender Pablo Zabaleta sounded wary of the game in the Italian capital.
"Rome is always a very difficult place to go and win," he told the Guardian. "They have a very good team and they're second in the (Serie A) league. If we continue playing in this way we'll have a good chance to qualify."
Weakening the English champions is the absence with injury of Argentine striker Sergio Aguero while Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure is suspended.
Toure will not be able to tackle his fellow countryman Gervinho, who only played the second half for Roma on Saturday, when veteran Francesco Totti rested and De Rossi was able to enjoy an enforced early bath.
Roma's local rivals Lazio also offered City a helping hand as they will host them for a post-game training session on Thursday morning.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire