Shakhtar ready for Roma reunion

FC Shakhtar Donetsk and AS Roma have not enjoyed the best of times in the UEFA Champions League round of 16, but each have the opportunity to improve on that record when they meet in the first leg in Kharkiv.

• Shakhtar have lost two of their three last-16 ties – the sole exception their first appearance, a 6-2 aggregate win against Roma in the spring of 2011.

• Roma, who finished first in Group C this season, are in the round of 16 for the sixth time. However, they have not featured in the quarter-finals in a decade, and have lost their last three ties at this stage.

Previous meetings
• Shakhtar recorded a comfortable victory against Roma when the teams met at this stage of the 2010/11 competition. First-half goals from Jádson (29), Douglas Costa (36) and Luiz Adriano (41) gave the Ukrainian side a 3-2 first-leg victory in Rome despite Razvan Raţ's own goal (28) and a Jérémy Ménez strike (61) for Roma.

• Mircea Lucescu's team completed the job back in Donetsk thanks to Willian's double (18, 58), either side of Marco Borriello's 28th-minute penalty miss for the visitors, and a late Eduardo effort (87). Roma lost defender Philippe Mexès to a second yellow card four minutes before half-time.

• The sides at the Donbass Arena on 8 March 2011 were:
Shakhtar: Pyatov, Srna, Chygrynskiy, Rakitskiy, Raţ, Hübschman, Mkhitaryan (Alex Teixeira 67), Douglas Costa (Eduardo 60), Jádson, Willian, Luiz Adriano (Marcelo Moreno 75).
Roma: Doni, Burdisso, Juan, Mexès, Riise, Taddei (Rosi 46), Pizarro, De Rossi, Perrotta (Caprari 86), Borriello, Vučinić (Brighi 65).

• Taras Stepanenko was an unused Shakhtar substitute in both legs.

• When the teams met in the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League group stage, Shakhtar won 1-0 at home thanks to Ciprian Marica's 61st-minute goal.

• The teams in Donetsk on 22 November 2006 were:
Shakhtar: Shust, Tymoshchuk, Kucher, Duljaj, Fernandinho (Gai 90), Brandão, Raţ, Chygrynskiy, Marica (Aghahowa 75), Srna, Jádson (Elano 81).
Roma: Doni, Panucci, Mancini (Vučinić 78), Cassetti, Mexès, De Rossi, Perrotta, Ferrari (Pizarro 69), Aquilani (Montella 78), Totti, Taddei.

• Roma were 4-0 victors in Italy, Rodrigo Taddei, Francesco Totti, Daniele De Rossi and David Pizarro all scoring in the final 24 minutes.

Match background

Shakhtar
• Since that 2011 win against Roma, Shakhtar have lost on both their last-16 appearances: against Borussia Dortmund in 2012/13 (2-2 home, 0-3 away), FC Bayern München in 2014/15 (0-0 home, 0-7 away). The second-leg loss to Bayern is their heaviest European defeat.

• The Ukrainian side are therefore unbeaten in their three home round of 16 games in the UEFA Champions League (W1 D2).

• The Donetsk side won all three of their home fixtures in Group G this season, beating SSC Napoli 2-1 on matchday one and Feyenoord 3-1. Last time out they became the first side to beat section winners Manchester City FC this season, recording a 2-1 victory.

• Shakhtar's record at home to Italian clubs is W4 D0 L6.

• The Pitmen's record in two-legged knockout ties against Serie A clubs is W1 L3, with that 2010/11 defeat of Roma their sole aggregate success.

• Shakhtar are playing their UEFA Champions League home games in Kharkiv this season due to the political situation in Ukraine, and have won six of their last 14 home matches in the competition proper (D5 L3), group stage to final.

• Márcio Azevedo, Taison and Marlos all called the OSK Metalist Stadion home before joining Shakhtar from FC Metalist Kharkiv.

• In 2016/17, the Ukrainian team lost to BSC Young Boys in the third qualifying round (2-0 home, 0-2 away, 2-4 on penalties). They eventually made it to the UEFA Europa League round of 32, going down to RC Celta de Vigo (1-0 away, 0-2 home aet).

• That Celta defeat ended Shakhtar's five-game winning run at home, and is their only defeat in their last 13 home matches in Europe (W10 D2).

Roma
• Roma's round of 16 record is W2 L3. They beat Olympique Lyonnais (2006/07) and Real Madrid CF (2007/08) in their first two appearances, but have since lost to Arsenal FC (2008/09), Shakhtar (2010/11) and Madrid (2015/16).

• Roma have lost their last four matches in the round of 16. They were beaten 2-0 both home and away by Madrid two seasons ago.

• The Giallorossi have visited Ukraine on only two other occasions, both to face FC Dynamo Kyiv in the UEFA Champions League group stage. The went down 2-0 in November 2004 (0-3 home) but won 4-1 in Kyiv three years later (2-0 home).

• Roma's record in Ukraine is therefore W1 L3. Overall against Ukraine clubs it is W3 L5. That 2010/11 tie with Shakhtar is their sole knockout contest.

• Despite finishing top of Group C, Roma picked up just four points from their three away games in the section, a 2-1 victory at Qarabağ FK, a 3-3 draw at Chelsea and a 2-0 loss at Club Atlético de Madrid on matchday five. Their tally of 11 points was the lowest total among the eight group winners.

• 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. Matchday four's 3-0 scalp of Chelsea and the 1-0 home win against Qarabağ in their last fixture means they have now won four of their last 21 games in the competition (D8 L9).

• 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.

• Roma won two of their five away fixtures in last season's UEFA Europa League but, in the UEFA Champions League, were without a victory in ten away matches, including qualifying (D5 L5), before matchday two. A 3-2 triumph at FC Basel 1893 in the 2009/10 group stage is their only other victory in their last 16 away games in the competition, group stage to final (D6 L8).

Coach and player links
• Have played together:
Taison & Juan Jesus (CA Internacional 2010)
Fred & Alisson (CA Internacional 2013)
Alan Patrick & Allison (CA Internacional 2013–14)

• Taison and Juan Jesus were team-mates as Brazil's CA Internacional won the 2010 Copa Libertadores.

• International team-mates:
Taison, Fred and Bernard & Alisson (Brazil)

Match facts

Shakhtar
• UEFA Champions League squad changes
In: Dodô, Ruslan Fomin, Vyacheslav Tankovskiy
Out: Márcio Azevedo

• Darijo Srna is suspended.

• The 2-1 win against Manchester City FC on matchday six was Shakhtar's fourth victory in a row in all competitions, but they lost their last game of 2017, going down 2-1 at FC Zorya Luhnsk on 10 December.

• Shakhtar recorded two wins, one draw and three losses in their six winter friendlies:
20/01 Shakhtar 2-2 Ludogorets
24/01 Shakhtar 0-1 Dinamo Zagreb
30/01 Shakhtar 1-2 København
03/02 Shakhtar  3-2 Slavia Praha
06/02 Shakhtar 0-1 Jiangsu Suning
07/02 Shakhtar 2-0 AIK

• The Pitmen resumed the league campaign with a 5-0 home win against FC Chornomorets Odesa on Friday, Facundo Ferreya and Marlos – who also provided three assists – both scoring twice.

• Ferreyra has scored 11 goals in his last 12 games for Shakhtar, and has 15 in the Ukrainian Premier League this season – two more than he managed in the whole of 2016/17.

• Shakhtar have won 11 of their last 13 home matches, including the last four; they have lost one and drawn the other.

• Bernard has struck seven in his last 12 outings in all competitions, and his haul of five in the Ukrainian Premier League this term is already his best return in five seasons at Shakhtar.

• Marlos, who was named 2017 Player of the Year by both the Football Federation of Ukraine and Shakhtar fans, has ten league goals this season – his highest total in seven seasons in Ukraine.

Roma
• UEFA Champions League squad changes
In: none
Out: Héctor Moreno, Abdullahi Nura

• Bruno Peres is available after a one-match ban.

• Roma won only one of their first eight Serie A games after matchday six (D4 L3) but have recorded victories in the last three, winning 2-0 at Udinese Calcio on Saturday.

• Seven of the 19 Serie A goals Roma have conceded this season have come in the final 15 minutes.

• On 20 December the Giallorossi were eliminated in the Coppa Italia round of 16, going down 2-1 at home to Torino FC despite Patrick Schick's first goal for the Giallorossi.

• The 5-2 home victory against Serie A's bottom side Benevento on 11 February was the first time Roma had scored more than one goal in a game since the 3-1 home win against SPAL on 1 December – 12 matches previously.

• Alessandro Florenzi missed a penalty in the 1-0 home defeat against Sampdoria on 28 January. It was Roma's fourth penalty failure in all competitions this season after Diego Perotti (two) and Edin Džeko; despite Grégoire Defrel's successful spot kick against Benevento, the Giallorossi have missed four of their last six penalties.*

• Džeko missed a penalty in that Coppa Italia defeat against Torino, his third consecutive failure from the spot for Roma.

• Cengiz Ünder scored his first Roma goal in the 1-0 win at AC Chievo Verona on 4 February; the 20-year-old Turkish forward added two more against Benevento and was also on target at Udinese.

• In December, Perotti signed a new contract until 2021; he scored his fourth Serie A goal of the season on Saturday.

• Maxime Gonalons has not been available since January 6 with a calf injury. Rick Karsdorp has been out since October and has undergone an operation following his second serious knee injury of the season.