Roma still seeking first win as Leverkusen visit

AS Roma will try again for a first win in Group E when they host Bayer 04 Leverkusen on matchday four.

• Rudi Garcia's Giallorossi came from two goals down to lead Leverkusen 4-2 entering the final six minutes of the sides' encounter in Germany on matchday three but had to settle for a point after late strikes by Kevin Kampl and Admir Mehmedi. 

• For bottom-placed Roma it is the first time they have reached the midway point of a UEFA Champions League group stage without a win since 2004/05 – and then as now they met Leverkusen in the competition.

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

• Leverkusen beat Roma 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 sides reconvened at the Stadio Olimpico a fortnight later where Berbatov gave Leverkusen an 82nd-minute lead only for Vincenzo Montella to snatch a 1-1 draw with an added-time equaliser.

• The lineups in Rome on 3 November 2004 were:
Roma: Zotti, Sartor (Chivu 63), Dellas, Mexès, Cufré, Mancini, De Martino, Aquilani, D'Agostino (Mido 63), Montella (Corvia 90+5), Totti.
Leverkusen: Butt, Ramelow, Juan (Nowotny 49), Roque Júnior, Krzynówek, Babić, Balitsch, Placente, Schneider (Freier 86), Ponté (Callsen-Bracker 90+5), Berbatov.

Match background

Roma
• Roma have won only one of their last eight home matches in UEFA club competition.

• That sequence includes their 7-1 defeat by FC Bayern München in last season's group stage – the last time they hosted a Bundesliga side.

• Roma's overall home record against German visitors is W7 D1 L4.

Leverkusen
• Leverkusen have already lost at the Stadio Olimpico once this term when succumbing 1-0 to SS Lazio in the first leg of a play-off tie they eventually won 3-1 on aggregate through second-leg goals from Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Mehmedi and Karim Bellarabi.

• Roger Schmidt's men would move four points clear in second place in Group E if they win in Rome and Barcelona beat FC BATE Borisov in the section's other fixture.

• The Bundesliga side have won only once in eight previous visits to Italy (W1 D3 L4). That 1-0 success at Udinese Calcio in the 1999/2000 UEFA Cup third round came courtesy of a Michael Ballack goal, yet Leverkusen were still eliminated after losing the second leg 2-1 at home.

Coach and player links
• Leverkusen technical director Rudi Völler played for Roma (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 lost home (0-1) and away (1-6) to Bayern in the 2012/13 group stage.

• Francesco Totti first faced Bundesliga opponents as a Roma player in the 1996/97 UEFA Cup second-round defeat by Karlsruher SC. He and De Rossi both scored when the Giallorossi last tasted victory over German opposition – 3-2 at home against Bayern in the group stage in November 2010.

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

• Giulio Donati began his career at FC Internazionale Milano for whom 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

Roma
• De Rossi and Radja Nainggolan are a booking away from a suspension.

• Roma's five-game unbeaten run (four of them wins) ended with a 1-0 defeat at FC Internazionale Milano on Saturday, allowing the hosts to leapfrog the Giallorossi at the Serie A summit. Miralem Pjanić was sent off 17 minutes from time.

• It was the first time Roma have failed to score in 25 fixtures 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.

• Gervinho has scored six goals in his last eight club appearances, his most recent strike coming in the 3-1 home victory over Udinese on 28 October, when Pjanić was also on target. The Bosnian international is on a run of five in eight games.

• Totti has not played since suffering a thigh injury against Carpi FC 1909 on 26 September. The Roma captain lasted only nine minutes after replacing Džeko at half-time.

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

• Leverkusen have scored 15 goals in their last four games – Hernández has contributed six of them.

• Mehmedi followed up his late equaliser on matchday three with an 89th-minute winner to defeat Stuttgart 4-3 on 24 October.

• Vladlen Yurchenko, with his first goal for Leverkusen, rounded off the scoring in a 6-0 German Cup second round victory at FC Viktoria Köln on 28 October. Leverkusen travel to fourth-division SpVgg Unterhaching in the last 16 on 15/16 December.

• Skipper Lars Bender missed Saturday's 2-1 loss at VfL Wolfsburg due to an ankle problem.

• Jedvaj (out since 17 July, thigh) made his comeback as a substitute in the 0-0 draw at Hamburger SV on 17 October only to sustain another thigh injury in training five days later that is expected to sideline him for the rest of the year.

• Charles Aránguiz tore his Achilles tendon in training on 20 August, while Roberto Hilbert (8 October, left knee) will miss the rest of the year. Seung-Woo Ryu, who has not played this season, has been absent since mid-October with an ankle injury.