Barcelona scent progress as Roma come to town

FC Barcelona will look to tie up qualification for the UEFA Champions League last 16 for the 12th season running when they host AS Roma on matchday five.

• Barcelona will advance as Group E winners with a draw, and will still qualify if they lose and Bayer 04 Leverkusen drop points against FC BATE Borisov in the section's other game.

• Roma will secure their progress, meanwhile, if they win and Leverkusen fail to beat BATE.

Previous meetings
• Luis Enrique was in the Barcelona side and Francesco Totti wore the Roma armband when the clubs met in the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League second group stage, starting with a 1-1 draw at the Camp Nou, where Patrick Kluivert cancelled out a Christian Panucci goal.

• Roma won the return 3-0 with Emerson, Vincenzo Montella and Damiano Tomassi scoring. Barcelona still won the group, with Roma eliminated in third place.

• The lineups for the meeting in Barcelona on 20 February 2002 were:
Barcelona: Reina, Puyol, Christanval, F De Boer, Sergi (Xavi 74), Cocu, Motta (Rochembak 68), Luis Enrique, Saviola (Overmars 57), Rivaldo, Kluivert.
Roma: Antonioli, Cafu, Panucci, Samuel, Zebina, Lima (Guigou 74), Tommasi, Emerson, Candela, Totti (Delvecchio 81), Batistuta.

• Barcelona beat Roma 3-0 in a pre-season friendly at Camp Nou on 5 August this year, with Neymar, Lionel Messi and Ivan Rakitić the scorers.

Match background

Barcelona
• Barcelona have posted three straight wins in Group E since their opening 1-1 draw at Roma in September.

• Including their 3-0 victory over BATE last time out, Barcelona are on a run of eight straight home wins in the UEFA Champions League.

• Their last home loss in the competition was the 3-0 reverse against FC Bayern München in May 2013 – their only defeat in their last 35 UEFA Champions League home matches, of which 28 have been victories.

• Barcelona's overall home record against Italian visitors is W13 D5 L2. They last faced visitors from Serie A in November 2013 when Messi (two goals) and Sergio Busquets earned them a 3-1 victory over AC Milan. Gerard Piqué scored an own goal.

Roma
• Roma are seeking a first away win in the UEFA Champions League since beating FC Basel 1893 (3-2) in November 2010.

• They have scored six goals away from home already in Group E but have taken just one point after losing at BATE (2-3) and drawing at Leverkusen (4-4).

• The Giallorossi won 2-1 at Real Madrid CF on their last visit to Spain in the UEFA Champions League in the 2007/08 round of 16. Their overall away record against Liga sides is: W3 D3 L5.

• Totti has scored in four different games in Spain for Roma, starting at Real Madrid (1-1) in the 2001/02 first group stage. In 2002/03 he scored at Madrid in a 1-0 first group stage win and twice at Valencia in the second group stage (3-0 win). He converted a penalty on a second trip to Mestalla in the 2006/07 group stage (1-2 defeat).

Coach and player links
• As Roma coach in 2011/12, Luis Enrique oversaw a seventh-placed finish in Serie A.

• As LOSC Lille coach Rudi Garcia lost twice to Valencia CF (0-2 a, 0-1 h) in the 2012/13 group stage. His Lille side had faced a Valencia side then including Jordi Alba in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League group stage (1-1 h, 1-3 a). For Garcia's LOSC, that campaign ended with defeat in the last 16 by Javier Mascherano's Liverpool FC.

• Seydou Keita was a Barcelona player from 2008–12 and appeared as a substitute in their 2009 and 2011 UEFA Champions League final triumphs as well as winning three Spanish Liga titles.

• Iago Falque began his career in Barcelona's youth ranks but played just one league game for their B team.

• Edin Džeko was in the Manchester City team eliminated by Barcelona at the last-16 stage in 2013/14 and 2014/15.

• Wojciech Szczęsny was beaten twice by Lionel Messi (once from the penalty spot) when Arsenal FC lost 3-1 at Barcelona in a 4-3 aggregate defeat in the 2010/11 round of 16.

• Alba scored and Busquets, Piqué and Andrés Iniesta also played in Spain's 4-0 victory over Daniele De Rossi's Italy in the UEFA EURO 2012 final. De Rossi missed a penalty as Italy lost a shoot-out to Spain in the UEFA EURO 2008 quarter-finals.

• Players who have played together:
Antonio Rüdiger & Marc-André ter Stegen (Germany)
Lucas Digne & Jérémy Mathieu (France)
Radja Nainggolan & Thomas Vermaelen (Belgium)
Emerson Palmieri & Neymar (Santos 2012–13)
Keita & Jérémy Mathieu (Valencia 2014)
Keita & Adriano (Sevilla 2007–08)
Szczęsny & Vermaelen (Arsenal 2010–14)

Match facts

Barcelona
• Dani Alves will incur a suspension with his next booking.

• Barcelona are eight games unbeaten – seven wins – since the 2-1 reverse at Sevilla FC on 3 October.

• Neymar and Luis Suárez have scored 20 of Barcelona's last 21 Liga goals. Both players were on target in the 4-0 defeat of Real Madrid on Saturday, the latter twice.

• Messi (out since 26 September, knee) and Rakitić (4 November, groin) made their comebacks at the Santiago Bernabéu.

• The Blaugrana have kept five consecutive clean sheets in all competitions.

• Barcelona have conceded four goals on three occasions in 2015/16: against RC Celta de Vigo on 23 September, Athletic Club in the Spanish Super Cup and Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup.

• Rafinha, injured on matchday one, was signed off for six months after undergoing knee surgery on 22 September.

• Douglas played 90 minutes in the Copa del Rey against CF Villanovense – his first start since 3 December 2014 – on 28 October but was ruled out for eight weeks the following day with a foot injury.

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

• Roma have failed to score in only one of their last 28 games in all competitions.

• Džeko has scored in four of his last five appearances for club and country. Džeko equalised in the first leg of Bosnia and Herzegovina's unsuccessful UEFA EURO 2016 play-off against the Republic of Ireland, his eighth goal of the qualifying campaign.

• Džeko and compatriot Miralem Pjanić both converted a penalty in the 2-2 draw at Bologna FC on Saturday.

• Garcia's side have only kept one clean sheet in their last 14 matches (2-0 v SS Lazio on 8 November) and two all season.

• Gervinho was ruled out for three weeks after suffering a thigh injury during the Ivory Coast's 3-0 FIFA World Cup qualifying victory over Liberia on 17 November.

• Mohamed Salah will be sidelined for four to six weeks after suffering an ankle injury against Lazio.

• 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.