Unhappy memories spur Madrid

Real Madrid CF have to overturn a one-goal deficit if they are to avoid defeat in the first knockout round of the UEFA Champions League for a fourth successive year. Things looked much more promising for them early on in the away leg when they led against AS Roma before the Italian club turned the tie on its head.

• Raúl González struck the eighth-minute opener at the Stadio Olimpico but Roma, bidding to at least equal their 2006/07 achievement of a place in the last eight – their best performance in 23 years – raised their own hopes through a David Pizarro equaliser before Mancini's second-half strike edged the Giallorossi in front.

• Madrid have won their last five home games against Italian visitors in UEFA club competition. That sequence would be as much as 12 had Roma not proved such difficult opposition in the Spanish capital, winning 1-0 there in the UEFA Champions League 2002/03 first group stage through Francesco Totti's first-half goal. The teams were also paired together at the same stage of the previous season's competition with the game in Spain ending 1-1, Totti again on the scoresheet with the first goal of the game. Roma's last visit to the Santiago Bernabéu in the 2004/05 group stage resulted in a 4-2 defeat.

• Players in the starting lineup when Roma were last visitors to Madrid were Iker Casillas, Míchel Salgado and Raúl González for the home team and Totti, Simone Perrotta, Christian Panucci, Mancini and Daniele De Rossi for the Giallorossi.

• Madrid have won 20 of the 25 home fixtures against teams from Italy with two draws and three defeats. No other Italian visitor has been as successful as Roma, who have just a single defeat in their three visits to the Bernabéu.

• This time round, Bernd Schuster's side finished level on eleven points with Olympiacos CFP in Group C, taking first place through their superior head-to-head record. They won all three home fixtures, scoring nine goals in the process, to extend Madrid's run of UEFA Champions League fixtures at their own stronghold to 25 with just a single defeat. Their last reverse was a 1-0 loss against Arsenal FC in the first knockout round in February 2006 while the other games during this sequence have yielded 19 wins and five draws.

• Madrid have faced Italian opposition in four European Champion Clubs' Cup finals. They beat ACF Fiorentina 2-0 in 1956/57 and AC Milan 3-2 the following year, lost 3-1 to FC Internazionale Milano in the 1964 showcase but then overcame Juventus 1-0 in 1998.

• Three years ago, Los Merengues' European campaign ended in the first knockout round against Italian opposition when Juventus won 2-1 on aggregate. The following season it was Arsenal who went through at Madrid's expense while last season FC Bayern München triumphed on away goals in the last 16.

• Luciano Spalletti's team would welcome a reprise of their result in the away leg at the same stage 12 months ago. After a goalless home leg against Olympique Lyonnais, first-half strikes from Francesco Totti and Mancini at the Stade de Gerland took them through. Roma's run came to an end at the next stage, though, when they were overwhelmed 7-1 at Old Trafford to give Manchester United FC an 8-3 overall victory.

• The 2002 win in Madrid was one of two successes for Roma in Spain. They also won on their next visit, a 3-0 triumph at Valencia CF in the UEFA Champions League second group stage during the same season. Their other eight visits resulted in five defeats and three draws.

• This season, Roma gained four points in their three away games to help them finish as runners-up behind Manchester United in Group F. After starting with a 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford they then posted a 2-2 draw away to Sporting Clube de Portugal and a 4-1 victory at FC Dynamo Kyiv.