Roma will travel to Portugal for their first leg of Europa League’s round of 32 game against Braga
Stadium: Braga Municipal Stadium
Key Statistics
- This will be the first meeting between both sides in European competitions.
- Roma have defeated all of their Portuguese opponents at least once in European competitions and Braga will be their seventh.
- Roma manager Paulo Fonseca has a special connection with Braga as he had previously managed the Portuguese outfit. It was under the Brazilian Braga qualified for the quarterfinal of 2015/16 Europa League before got beaten by Shakhtar Donetsk, the club Fonseca would manage next.
- Braga hold a poor record in the knockouts as they have been beaten on five of the last six occasions.
AS Roma
Despite being futile against top teams in Serie A, Roma have managed to maintain a good record against the rest of the clubs and are currently third in the Scudetto race.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been in sublime form this season and can be argued as the best midfielder of Serie A given his impressive numbers – 9 goals and 8 assists in 21 appearances.
Jordan Veretout also has the same number of goals as Mkhitaryan and both are serving as a key cog in Fonseca’s midfield.
Giallorossi are coming off an emphatic win against Udinese, where Veretout secured a brace. Fonseca’s men are solid defensively and quick to punish the opponents in transitions.
Possible Roma line-ups
Pau Lopez, Gianluca Mancini, Bryan Cristante, Roger Ibanez, Rick Karsdorp, Amadou Diawara, Jordan Veretout, Leonardo Spinazzola, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Edin Dzeko
Braga
Braga were excellent in the group stage of Europa League where they finished second behind Leicester City in Group G.
Their domestic form has also been impressive this season as they are currently ahead of Benfica at the third place in the Portuguese top flight.
Now, they would like to maximise their home advantage against Roma.
Possible Braga line-ups
Matheus, Vitor Tormena, Raul Silva, Cristian Borja, Ricardo Esgaio, Ali Elmusrati, Joao Novais, Galeno, Ricardo Horta, Fransergio, Abel Ruiz.
Betting Odds
Braga : Draw : Roma :: 3.50 : 3.60 : 2.05
| Rank | Braga Goals | Roma Goals | Odds |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 7.00 |
| 2 | 1 | 2 | 9.00 |
| 3 | 0 | 1 | 9.00 |
| 4 | 0 | 2 | 11.00 |
Prediction
Braga 0 – 2 Roma
