Madrid out to bury Italian jinx with Roma scalp

Real Madrid CF host AS Roma in the second leg of their round of 16 tie in pole position to reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals for the sixth season in a row.

• Madrid have lost their last eight two-legged ties against Serie A sides, but first-leg goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Jesé have put them in control of the tie.

• For Zinédine Zidane, this is his first UEFA Champions League home fixture as coach of the team he won the competition with as a player in 2002, scoring the winning goal in the final. He succeeded Rafael Benítez in early January.

• Roma also changed their coach at the start of this year with Rudi Garcia replaced by Luciano Spalletti, who helped the Serie A team overcome Madrid the last time they met in this competition.

Previous meeting
• Prior to this season the clubs had met eight times in UEFA competition with four wins for Madrid, three for Roma and one draw.

• The sides faced off in a pre-season friendly in Melbourne on 18 July last year. Roma prevailed 7-6 on penalties after a 0-0 draw, Seydou Keita converting the winning kick after Morgan De Sanctis had saved from Lucas Vázquez.

• Their most recent official encounter was in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 in 2007/08 when Spalletti's Roma recorded 2-1 home and away victories.

• The first leg was at the Stadio Olimpico and though Raúl González struck first, Roma hit back through David Pizarro and Mancini. Raúl scored again in the second leg to equalise Rodrigo Taddei's strike yet a Madrid team reduced to ten men by Pepe's red card conceded again as Roma substitute Mirko Vučinić sealed a 4-2 aggregate triumph.

• The lineups for that second leg on 5 March 2008 were:
Real Madrid: Casillas, Salgado (Torres 64), Pepe, Cannavaro, Heinze, Diarra (Drenthe 61), Gago, Guti, Júlio Baptista (Soldado 85), Robinho, Raúl.
Roma: Doni, Cicinho (Panucci 87), Mexès, Juan, Tonetto, Aquilani, De Rossi, Perrotta (Pizarro 76), Taddei, Mancini (Vučinić 65), Totti.

• Francesco Totti registered in the clubs' two games in the 2001/02 first group stage. His penalty could not prevent a 2-1 Madrid win in Rome, but he earned a point in a 1-1 draw back at the Santiago Bernabéu where Luís Figo converted a spot-kick equaliser.

• Totti was on target again at the Bernabéu in the 2002/03 first group stage, notching the only goal in a 1-0 victory which avenged Madrid's earlier 3-0 success at the Stadio Olimpico.

• Daniele De Rossi broke the deadlock when Madrid beat Roma 4-2 in the Spanish capital in the 2004/05 group stage. The Merengues won the return in Rome too (3-0) in the last of Zidane's 14 career appearances against the Giallorossi (W7 D5 L2).

Match background

Real Madrid
• After winning Group A, Madrid are now pursuing a sixth successive quarter-final appearance.

• Madrid thrashed Malmö FF 8-0 in their last home fixture in the competition in December – the joint-biggest victory in 24 years of the UEFA Champions League. Overall they scored 13 goals and conceded none in amassing three straight home victories in the group stage.

• The Merengues have won 21 of their 30 home matches against Italian opponents, drawing three and losing six.

• Madrid suffered UEFA Champions League elimination when they last hosted Serie A opposition, their 1-1 second-leg draw with Juventus consigning them to a 3-2 aggregate reverse in last season's semi-finals.

• Madrid have lost their last eight two-legged knockout ties against Serie A sides. Their last victory was in the 1987/88 European Champion Clubs' Cup first round against SSC Napoli (aggregate 3-1). Emilio Butragueño, now a club director, netted in the 1-1 second-leg draw in Naples.

• They have lost only one of the 30 UEFA competition ties in which they won the first leg away from home. The exception came against Odense BK in the 1994/95 UEFA Cup third round when a 3-2 away success preceded a 2-0 home reverse.

• Madrid's shoot-out record in European competition is W1 L2:
5-6 v FK Crvena zvezda, 1974/75 European Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals
3-1 v Juventus, 1986/87 European Cup second round
1-3 v FC Bayern München, 2011/12 UEFA Champions League semi-finals

Roma
• Roma are looking to reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2008.

• They qualified for the last 16 as Group E runners-up behind FC Barcelona, despite winning only one game (3-2 at home v Bayer 04 Leverkusen).

• Roma scored seven goals in three away matches in Group E but conceded 13 – six of them in a 6-1 defeat at Barcelona on 24 November. Their overall away record against Spanish rivals is: W3 D3 L6.

• Roma's record in two-legged ties against Spanish teams is W2 L3.

• The Giallorossi last won away from home in the UEFA Champions League when beating FC Basel 1893 (3-2) in November 2010.

• Roma have won just one of the five UEFA competition ties in which they lost the first leg at home, recovering from a 2-1 reverse against 1. FC Nürnberg in the 1988/89 UEFA Cup first round with a 3-1 triumph in Germany. Most recently, the Giallorossi went down 3-2 at home to FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League round of 16, subsequently losing 3-0 in Ukraine.

• Their UEFA shoot-out record is W1 L3:
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
6-7 v Arsenal FC, 2008/09 UEFA Champions League round of 16

Coach and player links
• As coach of FC Zenit, Spalletti lost on his two group stage visits to Spain, crashing 3-1 at Club Atlético de Madrid in 2013/14 and 3-0 at Málaga CF the previous season.

• James Rodríguez got Porto's goal in a 3-1 reversal at Spalletti's Zenit in the 2011/12 group stage.

• Zidane spent five seasons in Italy with Juventus (1996–2001), lifting two Serie A titles. His combined record against Roma as a player with Juventus and Madrid was W7 D5 L2.

• Zidane faced Totti in the UEFA EURO 2000 final which France won 2-1 after extra time. They met again in the 2006 FIFA World Cup final when Zidane scored France's goal but was sent off in extra time. De Rossi also played and converted a penalty in Italy's 5-3 shoot-out triumph.

• De Rossi missed a spot kick in Italy's shoot-out defeat by Sergio Ramos's Spain in the UEFA EURO 2008 quarter-finals. De Rossi featured again when the Azzurri fell 4-0 to a Spain side containing both Ramos and Álvaro Arbeloa in the UEFA EURO 2012 final.

• Keita played in Spain for Sevilla FC, Barcelona and Valencia CF. With Barcelona (2008–12), he figured in their 2009 and 2011 UEFA Champions League final triumphs as well as the 2011 semi-final success against Madrid. His overall record against Madrid in Spain was W11 D4 L2. His one goal against them came in Sevilla's 2-0 home victory in November 2007.

• Ronaldo helped Manchester United FC to back-to-back UEFA Champions League quarter-final wins over Roma (2007, 2008). In 2007 he struck twice in a 7-1 Old Trafford rout of the Giallorossi – in which De Rossi got Roma's goal – and the next year scored in a 2-1 away win.

• Gareth Bale faced Maicon when his Tottenham Hotspur FC side took on the Brazilian's FC Internazionale Milano in the 2010/11 group stage. Bale hit a hat-trick in a 4-3 away defeat and then helped Spurs prevail 3-1 at home.

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

• Iago Falqué began his career at Barcelona but played just one league match for their B team before spells at UD Almería and Rayo Vallecano de Madrid.

• Edin Džeko notched the opening goal in Manchester City FC's 3-2 group stage defeat at Madrid in 2012/13.

• De Sanctis played for Sevilla in 2007/08.

• As an Inter player, Mateo Kovačić faced Roma four times, winning one and losing three.

• Players who have played together:
Morgan De Sanctis & Zinédine Zidane (Juventus, 1997–99)
Lucas Digne & Raphaël Varane, Karim Benzema (France)
Antonio Rüdiger & Toni Kroos (Germany)
Maicon & Marcelo, Casemiro, Danilo (Brazil)

Match facts

Real Madrid
• Casemiro and Ramos will incur a suspension with their next bookings.

• Ronaldo scored four in Saturday's 7-1 defeat of Celta Vigo to take his all-time Liga tally to 252 goals, second on the all-time list.

• The Whites' 11-game unbeaten run – eight of those matches under Zidane – ended when they lost 1-0 at home to Atlético on 27 February.

• Borja Mayoral, scorer of seven goals in the UEFA Youth League this season, made his first Liga start on 2 March as the Merengues prevailed 3-1 at Levante UD.

• Benzema sustained a hamstring injury in the first half against Atlético and is expected to miss the visit of Roma. Luka Modrić (ankle) is also doubtful, while Marcelo (shoulder) and Bale (hamstring) made their comebacks off the bench against Celta.

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

• Roma have won their last seven Serie A games, their best run in the league since nine consecutive victories in March/April 2014.

• Stephan El Shaarawy has scored five times in Serie A since joining the Giallorossi on loan from AC Milan in January. The forward did not manage a Ligue 1 goal while with AS Monaco FC in the first half of the season.

• With nine Serie A goals to his name, Miralem Pjanić is enjoying the most productive campaign of his career.

• De Rossi was ruled out for four weeks after suffering a calf injury during his substitute outing against Madrid in the first leg.

• Kevin Strootman, fit again after a knee injury, made his first appearance since 25 January 2015 when he came off the bench in the 5-1 defeat of US Città di Palermo on 21 February. The midfielder is not in Roma's UEFA Champions League squad.