United out to finish Roma off

AS Roma have a mountain to climb when they return to Old Trafford, scene of their heaviest European defeat, needing to overturn a 2-0 deficit in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Manchester United FC.

• United are strong favourites to advance to a second successive semi-final given not just the advantage they hold and an unbeaten home record in the competition stretching back over three years, but also the fact they have already beaten their opponents twice on home turf during the past 12 months. After dismantling Roma 7-1 in last term's quarter-final, they then defeated them 1-0 in the group stage of this season's competition.

• It does not help Roma that they have won just once in ten previous visits to England – a 1-0 victory at Liverpool FC in the fourth round of the 2000/01 UEFA Cup.

• That was one of four occasions when Roma have travelled abroad needing to make amends for a home reverse and their 1-0 success at Anfield was not enough to prevent a 2-1 aggregate defeat. Only once have they come back to win, when they lost 2-1 at home to 1. FC Nürnberg in the 1988/89 UEFA Cup first round but then triumphed 3-1 in Germany through goals from Rudi Völler, Roberto Policano and Renato Portaluppi.

• United, for their part have been in this position 13 times before in UEFA competitions, qualifying rounds included, and have never lost a tie after winning away in the first leg.

• Sir Alex Ferguson's men took control of this quarter-final when goals from Cristiano Ronaldo (39 minutes) and Wayne Rooney (66) earned them a 2-0 win at the Stadio Olimpico on 1 April.

• The teams for the first leg were:
Roma: Doni, Marco Cassetti, Philippe Mexes, Christian Panucci, Max Tonetto (Cicinho 68), Daniele De Rossi, Alberto Aquilani (Mauro Esposito 77), Taddei (Ludovic Giuly 59), David Pizarro, Mancini, Mirko Vučinić.
Manchester United: Edwin van der Sar, Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidić (John O'Shea 33), Patrice Evra, Michael Carrick, Paul Scholes, Anderson (Owen Hargreaves 55), Ji-Sung Park, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney (Carlos Tévez 84).

• This will be the clubs' sixth meeting since April last year and so far United have recorded three wins to Roma's one with another match drawn.

• In last season's quarter-final Roma at least had the advantage of a 2-1 first-leg lead – goals from Taddei (44) and Mirko Vučinić (66) sandwiching a Rooney strike – when they visited Manchester for the second leg on 10 April.

• Nobody in either camp will need reminding what happened next, United overwhelming their opponents on a night where five home players – Michael Carrick (2), Ronaldo (2), Alan Smith, Rooney and Patrice Evra – featured on the scoresheet. Daniele De Rossi struck Roma's goal.

• The lineups that evening were:
Manchester United: Edwin van der Sar, Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand, Gabriel Heinze, John O'Shea (Patrice Evra 52), Cristiano Ronaldo, Michael Carrick (Kieran Richardson 73), Darren Fletcher, Ryan Giggs (Ole Gunnar Solskjær 61), Wayne Rooney, Alan Smith.
Roma: Doni, Marco Cassetti, Cristian Chivu, Philippe Mexes, Christian Panucci, Daniele De Rossi (Ricardo Faty 86), David Pizarro, Christian Wilhelmsson (Aleandro Rosi 88), Mirko Vučinić, Mancini (Stefano Okaka Chuka 90), Francesco Totti.

• Luciano Spalletti's men lost again at Old Trafford in a Group F fixture on 2 October. Rooney's 70th-minute strike secured a 1-0 victory for the Premier League champions.

• The lineups that evening were:
Manchester United: Tomasz Kuszczak, John O'Shea, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidić, Patrice Evra, Cristiano Ronaldo, Michael Carrick, Paul Scholes, Nani (Ryan Giggs 80), Wayne Rooney (Anderson 85), Louis Saha (Carlos Tévez 66).
Roma: Gianluca Curci, Cicinho, Philippe Mexes, Juan, Max Tonetto, Daniele De Rossi, Alberto Aquilani (David Pizarro 62), Ludovic Giuly (Mauro Esposito 80), Simone Perrotta, Mancini (Mirko Vučinić 74), Francesco Totti.

• The teams subsequently drew 1-1 in their final group game on 12 December, Mancini cancelling out Gerard Piqué's 34th-minute opener with the Roma equaliser 19 minutes from time.

• This is Roma's third quarter-final following previous appearances in the last eight in 1984 and last season. In contrast, United are appearing in their 14th quarter-final. They won nine and lost four of the previous 13.

• Roma reached this stage by finishing second in Group F with a record of W3 D2 L1 and then overcoming Real Madrid CF in the first knockout round. David Pizarro (24) and Mancini (58) scored the goals that earned a 2-1 comeback win in the first leg against Madrid at the Stadio Olimpico and Spalletti's side secured an identical victory in the return where Taddei (73) and Vučinić (90+2) struck either side of Madrid's Raúl González.

• For their part, United topped Group F with five wins and one draw and then defeated Olympique Lyonnais in the last 16. Carlos Tévez's 87th-minute goal earned them a 1-1 first-leg draw at Stade de Gerland before Ronaldo scored the only goal of the return after 41 minutes.

• United are one of two teams, alongside FC Barcelona, who remain unbeaten in this season's competition. They have won their last ten home games against continental opposition and have not lost at Old Trafford in their last 13 UEFA Champions League matches.

• AC Milan were the last visiting team to get the better of United in the UEFA Champions League, winning 1-0 in a last-16 tie in February 2005.

• Roma have won their last two away matches in the competition, beating FC Dynamo Kyiv 4-1 in the group stage then triumphing in Madrid last month.

• United's previous 14 matches at home to Italian teams have yielded ten wins and just two losses.

• In two-legged ties against Italian teams, United have won three and lost six – the most recent a 5-3 aggregate defeat by AC Milan in last season's UEFA Champions League semi-finals which was sealed by a 3-0 second-leg reverse in Milan.

• Roma won their first three two-legged ties against English opposition but have now lost their last four.

• Prior to last season the Giallorossi had reached the last eight of Europe's élite competition only once before – in 1983/84, the season they went all the way to the final before losing on penalties to Liverpool FC in the Stadio Olimpico.

• Rooney has struck six goals in seven games against Serie A opposition in the last two seasons – four of them against Roma.

• Ronaldo had not found the net in the UEFA Champions League prior to last April's 7-1 win against Roma. Including his two goals against the Giallorossi that night, he has now scored ten in his last eleven appearances in the competition.

• Simone Perrotta was born to Italian parents in the Lancashire town of Ashton-under-Lyme, a half-hour drive from Old Trafford and also the birthplace of England's 1966 FIFA World Cup hero Sir Geoff Hurst.

• Christian Panucci and Matteo Ferrari had short spells in the Premier League with Chelsea FC and Everton FC respectively. Panucci spent part of 2000/01 on loan at Chelsea while Ferrari was at Everton for the entire 2005/06 campaign.

• Edwin van der Sar played in Serie A between 1999 and 2001 with Juventus, while Mikaël Silvestre spent 1998/99 at FC Internazionale Milano. His compatriot Evra also played in Italy in the late 1990s for Marsala Calcio and Monza Calcio but never appeared in the top flight.

• United have lost both of their two previous penalty shoot-outs in Europe:
4-5 v Fehérvár, 1984/85 UEFA Cup quarter-finals
3-4 v FC Torpedo Moskva, 1992/93 UEFA Cup first round

• Roma, meanwhile, have won one and lost two of their own shoot-outs:
4-2 v IFK Norrköping, 1982/83 UEFA Cup second round
2-4 v Liverpool FC, 1983/84 European Champion Clubs' Cup final
3-4 v Real Zaragoza, 1986/87 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round