Leverkusen set sights on a Roman double

Bayer 04 Leverkusen take on AS Roma in the first match of their Group E double-header hoping to complete a double of a different kind.

• Leverkusen have already got the better of Roma's city rivals SS Lazio this season, beating them in the UEFA Champions League play-offs. Although they lost 1-0 in Rome, Leverkusen responded with a 3-0 home triumph through goals from Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Admir Mehmedi and Karim Bellarabi.

Previous meetings
• Leverkusen finished top of the group and Roma bottom when the clubs met in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Leverkusen beat the Giallorossi 3-1 at home, overturning a first-half Dimitar Berbatov own goal through second-half strikes by Roque Júnior, Jacek Krzynówek and França. Roma finished with nine men after the dismissals of Christian Panucci and Daniele De Rossi.

• The lineups at the BayArena on 20 October 2004 were:
Leverkusen: Butt, Roque Júnior, Nowotny, Juan, Schneider, Ramelow (França 46), Placente, Ponte (Balitsch 90+1), Jones (Freier 67), Berbatov, Krzynówek.
Roma: Zotti, Panucci, Ferrari, Scurto, Cufré, De Rossi, Perrotta (Mido 73), Mancini (Sartor 67), Totti, Cassano, Montella (Aquilani 50).

• The sides reconvened at the Stadio Olimpico a fortnight later where Berbatov gave Leverkusen an 82nd-minute lead only for Vincenzo Montella to snatch a point with an added-time equaliser.

Match background

Leverkusen
• Second in the Group E standings, Leverkusen are looking to bounce back from their 2-1 loss at FC Barcelona last time out.

• The Bundesliga side can take heart from their free-scoring home form in Europe this term. Roger Schmidt's men followed up their 3-0 play-off success against Lazio with a 4-1 victory over FC BATE Borisov on matchday one.

• Leverkusen's home record against Serie A teams is W4 D1 L3.

Roma
• The Giallorossi are still seeking a first win in Group E having drawn at home with Barcelona (1-1) and then lost 3-2 at BATE.

• Roma last won away from home in the UEFA Champions League when beating FC Basel 1893 (3-2) in November 2010 and have since gone six away games without a victory.

• Roma lost heavily to FC Bayern München in last season's group stage, going down 7-1 at home on 21 October last year, before a 2-0 defeat in Bavaria.

• Francesco Totti was on the bench for their last win in Germany – 3-0 at Hamburger SV in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup third round.

• Roma's overall record away to German clubs is W2 D0 L10.

Coach and player links
• Leverkusen technical director Rudi Völler played for Roma from 1987–92, scoring 45 goals in 142 Serie A appearances. He scored in the club's first win on German soil, 3-1 at 1. FC Nürnberg in the 1988/89 UEFA Cup first round. Völler had a brief spell as Roma coach in 2004.

• As coach of LOSC Lille, Rudi Garcia suffered a 6-1 UEFA Champions League defeat in Germany – Bayern did the damage in the 2012/13 group stage having also won 1-0 in Lille.

• Tin Jedvaj spent 2013/14 with Roma, appearing twice in Serie A.

• Giulio Donati began his career at FC Internazionale Milano where he made his only appearance in a Coppa Italia game against AS Livorno Calcio in 2009/10 in which he was replaced by Maicon.

• Seydou Keita appeared as a substitute in Barcelona's 7-1 defeat of Leverkusen in the 2011/12 round of 16. He had lost 3-0 at Leverkusen with RC Lens in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup round of 16 (agg 2-4).

• Edin Džeko played for VfL Wolfsburg from 2007–11, winning the Bundesliga in 2009. He scored twice in six matches against Leverkusen (W1 D1 L4).

• As a VfB Stuttgart player (2010–15), Antonio Rüdiger failed to beat Leverkusen in four attempts (D1 L3).

• Wojciech Szczęsny was in goal for Poland when they earned a 2-0 home win over a Germany side including Christoph Kramer, Bellarabi and Rüdiger in UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying in October last year.

• Javier Hernández scored in Mexico's 2-1 loss to De Rossi's Italy at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. In 2012 he and Džeko were both on target in Mexico's 2-1 friendly defeat of a Bosnia and Herzegovina team also including Miralem Pjanić.

• Players who have played together:
Rüdiger & Lars Bender, Bellarabi, Kramer (Germany)
Sebastian Boenisch & Szczęsny (Poland)
Salih Uçan & Ömer Toprak, Hakan Çalhanoğlu (Turkey)
Kyriakos Papadopoulos & Vasilis Torosidis, Kostas Manolas (Greece)
Papadopoulos & Torosidis (Olympiacos FC, 2007–10)
Donati & Maicon (Inter 2009/10)
Rüdiger & Bernd Leno (Germany Under-21)

Match facts

Leverkusen
• Kyriakos Papadopoulos' next yellow card will incur a booking.

• Leverkusen drew for the first time since 25 April on 4 October, 1-1 against FC Augsburg. On Saturday they did so again, 0-0 at Hamburger SV, their first goalless result since the visit of Borussia Dortmund on 31 January.

• Hakan missed a penalty in that match against Augsburg – his second failure from the spot in three attempts in the Bundesliga.

• Charles Aránguiz tore his Achilles tendon in training on 20 August, while Ömer suffered a thigh injury three weeks earlier. Jedvaj (thigh) had been out since 17 July before coming off the bench on Saturday. Roberto Hilbert (left knee) will miss the rest of the year.

Roma
• De Rossi made his 500th Roma appearance on Saturday and scored in a 3-1 defeat of Empoli FC.

• Gervinho has scored four goals in his last four appearances for Roma, including two in a 4-2 victory at US Città di Palermo on 4 October.

• Pjanić struck first in Sicily after 108 seconds – the quickest goal in Serie A this term.

• The Giallorossi have scored in their last 21 matches in all competitions, a run dating back to 19 March when they lost 3-0 at home to ACF Fiorentina in the UEFA Europa League round of 16 second leg.

• Playing on his home ground, Alessandro Florenzi equalised and then set up the winner for Graziano Pellè as Italy overcame Norway 2-1 in their final UEFA EURO 2016 qualifier on 13 October.

• Džeko, still recovering from the knee injury he sustained against Carpi FC 1909 on 26 September, was an unused substitute during both of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Group B matches and again for Roma against Empoli.

• Totti has not played since suffering a thigh injury versus Carpi. The Roma captain lasted only nine minutes after replacing Džeko at half-time.