Roma seek repeat as Basel return

Twelve months after locking horns in the UEFA Europa League, AS Roma and FC Basel 1893 will transport their rivalry to the UEFA Champions League as they square off in the Italian capital.

• Each team won their home tie against the other in 2009/10 and Claudio Ranieri's hosts will be eager to repeat last December's 2-1 win at the Stadio Olimpico as they look to build on their first victory in the section against CFR 1907 Cluj on Matchday 2. Basel are still seeking their first Group E points after losing 2-1 to both CFR and FC Bayern München.

Previous meetings
• Basel beat Roma 2-0 in Switzerland on the opening matchday of last season's UEFA Europa League group stage, Carlitos (11) and Federico Almerares (87) scoring.

• Roma made amends with a 2-1 comeback win on 3 December last year. Benjamin Huggel (18) put Basel ahead but Francesco Totti (32) replied with a penalty before Mirko Vučinić (59) secured the Giallorossi's victory.

• The lineups for that Stadio Olimpico encounter were:
Roma: Júlio Sérgio, Cicinho (Juan 73), Mexès, Burdisso, Riise, De Rossi, Pizarro, Perrotta, Menez (Taddei 60), Vučinić (Júlio Baptista 60), Totti.
Basel: Wessels, Inkoom, Atan, Abraham, Safari (Shaqiri 80), Carlitos, Huggel, Gelabert, Stocker, Frei, Streller.

• Basel had travelled to Rome knowing three points would guarantee a last-32 berth; instead while Roma ended up top of the section, Basel were eliminated after losing their final group game against Fulham FC.

• Totti also scored when the clubs met in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage, Roma winning 3-1 at home. Taddei and Shabani Nonda got their other goals before Mladen Petrić's late consolation for Basel. Both sides advanced to the knockout rounds.

Match background
• In Basel's 2008/09 group stage campaign they lost their first three matches and finished with just a point.

• Furthermore, Basel's four previous visits to Italy have yielded four defeats with 13 goals conceded.

• Roma have recorded nine home wins in ten European outings, dating back to November 2008. The sole blemish in that run was a 3-2 defeat by Panathinaikos FC in last season's UEFA Europa League round of 32, completing a 6-4 aggregate loss.

• Roma's record against Swiss opposition at the Stadio Olimpico is five wins out of five with 13 goals scored and just two conceded.

Team ties
• Basel coach Thorsten Fink struck twice against Roma in a 3-0 victory for Karlsruher SC in the first leg of a UEFA Cup second round tie in 1996/97. It was the only time he scored more than once in a UEFA club competition game. Totti appeared as a 65th-minute substitute for Roma who, in Fink's absence, won the return 2-1.

• Totti made his European debut at Neuchâtel Xamax FC as an 80th-minute substitute in a 1-1 draw in the UEFA Cup first round in September 1995.

• Totti scored in both legs of Roma's UEFA Cup third round tie against FC Zürich in 1998/99: the 88th-minute winner in a 1-0 home success then a 90th-minute equaliser in a 2-2 away draw.

• Daniele De Rossi was a late substitute in Italy's 1-1 draw with a Switzerland side including Alexander Frei, Huggel and Xherdan Shaqiri in a Geneva friendly before the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

• Scott Chipperfield was in the Australia team beaten by an added-time Totti penalty for Italy in the last 16 of the 2006 World Cup. In the group stage, Chipperfield's Australia lost 2-0 to Brazil with Adriano scoring the opening goal. Simone Perrotta and Juan also lined up against Chipperfield for their respective countries.

• Frei scored Switzerland's goal in a 2-1 friendly defeat by Italy in April 2003. Perrotta was in the Azzurri side.

• John Arne Riise was in the Liverpool team eliminated from the UEFA Champions League first group stage by Basel in 2002/03 following a 3-3 draw in Switzerland.