Roma ready to take Chelsea chance

AS Roma left Stamford Bridge with a point after their matchday three trip to Chelsea FC and the Italian side can overtake their English opponents with victory at the Stadio Olimpico – although the visitors could also book their place in the knockout rounds.

• The 3-3 draw in west London has left Chelsea top of Group C with seven points, two ahead of the Giallorossi. Antonio Conte's Blues also hold a five-point cushion over third-placed Club Atlético de Madrid, and would therefore qualify for the round of 16 should they claim only their second win away to Serie A opposition.

Previous meetings
• The host club held the upper hand in the teams' only previous fixtures, in the 2008/09 group stage. Luiz Felipe Scolari's Chelsea won the first game 1-0 in London, John Terry getting the goal in the 77th minute.

• The Italian side, then coached by Luciano Spalletti, turned the tables on 4 November, goals from Christian Panucci (34) and a Mirko Vučinić double (48, 58) securing a 3-1 home victory at the Stadio Olimpico despite Terry's 75th-minute reply for Chelsea, who lost Nicolas Anelka to a second booking nine minutes from time.

• The line-ups in Rome on 4 November 2008 were:
Roma: Doni, Cicinho, Panucci, Mexès, Juan, Pizarro, De Rossi, Perrotta (Taddei 72), Totti (Baptista 62), Brighi, Vučinić (Riise 88).
Chelsea: Čech, Bosingwa (Kalou 63), Terry, Alex, Bridge, Mikel, Malouda (Belletti 46), Lampard, J Cole (Drogba 46), Deco, Anelka.

Match background

Roma
• Roma have five points from their three Group C games, opening with a goalless draw at home to Atlético before a 2-1 victory at Qarabağ FK.

• That Qarabağ success was Roma's first win in eight UEFA Champions League matches, home and away and including qualifying, since a 3-2 home victory over Bayer 04 Leverkusen on 4 November 2015. They have now won two of their last 18 games in the competition.

• The Atlético stalemate means Roma have won just one of their last eight home matches in the UEFA Champions League – qualifying included – losing four.

• Roma's record at home to English clubs is W8 D3 L4. That does not include the 1984 European Champion Clubs' Cup final, lost on penalties to Liverpool FC at the Stadio Olimpico.

• The Giallorossi had won three home games in a row against Premier League visitors before losing 2-0 to Manchester City FC in their last such contest, in the 2014/15 group stage.

• The Italian side were eliminated by FC Porto in last season's play-offs (1-1 away, 0-3 home). They got as far as the UEFA Europa League round of 16, where they were defeated 5-4 over two legs by Olympique Lyonnais.

• Second in Serie A in 2016/17, Roma are in the group stage for a tenth time and the third in four years.

Chelsea
• Chelsea's last meeting with Italian opponents came in the 2012/13 group stage, when they collected one point from two games against Juventus; Roberto Di Matteo's men were held 2-2 at home before a 3-0 reverse in Turin helped seal their early exit, making them the first holders to fail to get through the group stage.

• That Juve defeat left Chelsea with the record W1 D3 L5 away to Serie A sides. They have lost on their last three trips, with the sole win a 4-0 success at SS Lazio in the 2003/04 group stage.

• Conte's team beat debutants Qarabağ 6-0 on matchday one before Michy Batshuayi secured a 2-1 victory at Atlético with the final kick of the game.

• Victory at Atlético was Chelsea's fourth in their last nine European away fixtures (D3 L2).

• Champions of England for a sixth time in 2016/17, Chelsea were not involved in European competition last term for the first time since 1996/97. They had appeared in every UEFA Champions League group stage going back to 2003/04.

• European champions in 2012, Chelsea got to the round of 16 on their last UEFA Champions League foray in 2015/16, losing to Paris Saint-Germain at that stage for the second year running.

• The Londoners have won their UEFA Champions League group on their last three appearances, and 11 times overall. The only time they have failed to progress to the last 16 was 2012/13, when they became the first holders to go out in the group phase; they went on to win the UEFA Europa League.

Coach and player links
• Conte played in Serie A for US Lecce (1985–91) and Juventus (1991–2004). He also coached Atalanta BC (2009/10) and Juventus (2011–14) in Serie A before taking charge of Italy between 2014 and joining Chelsea in 2016. Conte coached Roma players Daniele De Rossi, Alessandro Florenzi and Stephan El Shaarawy with the Azzurri.

• Antonio Rüdiger joined Chelsea in the summer after playing 56 Serie A games in two seasons with Roma.

• Davide Zappacosta was born in Sora, in the same Lazio region as Rome. He played in Serie A with Atalanta (2014/15) and Torino FC (2015–17), joining Chelsea in the summer.

• Álvaro Morata scored 15 league goals at Juventus between 2014 and 2016, winning the Scudetto in both campaigns. He was sent off in a 3-2 win against Roma in 2014; his record against the Giallorossi was W2 D1 L1.

• Morata scored in Spain's 3-0 defeat of Daniele De Rossi's Italy in a FIFA World Cup qualifier on 2 September.

• De Rossi missed and Cesc Fàbregas converted the decisive spot kick as Spain pipped Italy on penalties in the UEFA EURO 2008 quarter-finals. Fàbregas also appeared in Spain's UEFA EURO 2012 final win against De Rossi's Italy, who triumphed in the round of 16 at UEFA EURO 2016.

• Have played together:
Stephan El Shaarawy & Tiémoué Bakayoko (AS Monaco FC, 2015/16)
Edin Džeko, Aleksandar Kolarov & Willy Caballero (Manchester City, 2014/15)
Gerson & Kenedy (Fluminense FC, 2015)

• International team-mates:
Radja Nainggolan & Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtois, Michy Batshuayi (Belgium)
Maxime Gonalons & N'Golo Kanté, Tiémoué Bakayoko (France)

• Also played in Italy:
Marcos Alonso (ACF Fiorentina, 2013–16)
Eduardo (Genoa CFC 2010/11)

• Have played in England:
Edin Džeko (Manchester City FC, 2011–15)
Aleksandar Kolarov (Manchester City, 2010–17)
Federico Fazio (Tottenham Hotspur FC, 2014–16)

Match facts

Roma
• After the 3-3 draw against Chelsea, Roma won three consecutive games 1-0 in Serie A - away to Torino and at home against FC Crotone and Bologna FC.

• Roma goalkeeper Allison has kept seven clean sheets in ten Serie A games this season.

• Kolarov scored the only goal of the game against Torino. It was the first time he had struck in consecutive club matches since December 2013.

• Summer signing Rick Karsdorp made his Giallorossi debut against Crotone, playing from the start after recovering from knee and thigh injuries. However, the unlucky Dutch defender ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

• Grégoire Defrel and Patrik Schick have recovered from their recent injuries. The French forward was a second-half substitute against Crotone and started against Bologna while Schick was an unused substitute in both games.

• Kostas Manolas has not played since sustaining a thigh strain against SSC Napoli on 14 October.

• After scoring seven goals in his first six Serie A appearances this season, Džeko has not found the net in four consecutive league games.

• Džeko, the 29-goal Serie A top scorer last season, is on the 30-man shortlist for the Ballon d'Or. The winner will be announced on 6 December.

• On Sunday Federico Fazio added one year to his contract with Roma, committing to the Giallorossi until 2020.

Chelsea
• Chelsea ended a run of two consecutive league defeats by coming from behind to beat Watford FC 4-2 on 21 October with substitute Batshuayi scoring twice.

• Batshuayi has scored eight goals in his last ten outings for club and country.

• Danny Drinkwater made his debut for the club in the 2-1 League Cup victory against Everton FC on 25 October, returning from a calf injury suffered shortly after joining from Leicester City FC on 1 September.

• Kanté has not played since sustaining a hamstring injury in the first half of France's 1-0 victory away to Bulgaria on 7 October.

• Hazard, who scored the only goal at AFC Bournemouth on Saturday, and Kanté are on the 30-man shortlist for the Ballon d'Or. The winner will be announced on 6 December.