Roma v Real Madrid facts

Roma and Real Madrid are both within sight of the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds as they meet at the Stadio Olimpico on matchday five, when first place in Group G could be decided.

• Holders Madrid were 3-0 winners at the Santiago Bernabéu on matchday one thanks to goals from Isco (45), Gareth Bale (58) and Mariano Díaz (90+1) – their third win in a row, and third successive clean sheet, against Roma. The Italian club, however, have won all three Group G matches since that loss in Spain and are level with Madrid on nine points.

• With CSKA Moskva on four points and Viktoria Plzeň one, Madrid will clinch a round of 16 place as group winners with victory. They will also be through regardless of their result if CSKA fail to win at home to Plzeň. Roma will secure a top-two finish with a draw or if CSKA do not win.

Previous meetings
• The sides have become familiar UEFA Champions League foes in the 21st century – all 11 of their meetings have come from September 2001 onwards.

• The first six fixtures all came in the group stage, Madrid picking up four points from their two games against Roma in the 2001/02 first group stage and all six in 2004/05, while each club won their away games in the 2002/03 first group stage.

• Roma, however, ousted Madrid in the 2007/08 round of 16, winning both legs 2-1.

• Most recently, Madrid got the better of Roma in the last 16 of their triumphant 2015/16 campaign, winning 2-0 both away and home.

Form guide
Roma
• Roma responded to their opening loss at Real Madrid by beating Plzeň 5-0 on matchday two, their record UEFA Champions League victory. They then won 3-0 at home to CSKA Moskva and 2-1 away, the first time their have recorded three successive European victories since November-December 2009.

• Third in Serie A in 2017/18, Roma are in the group stage for an 11th time and the fourth in five years.

• Roma, runners-up in the 1983/84 European Cup, reached the semi-finals last season, losing to Liverpool. They finished top of a group including Chelsea and Atlético Madrid, before beating Shakhtar Donetsk and Barcelona in the knockout rounds – the latter particularly memorable, as a 4-1 away defeat was followed by a 3-0 victory at the Stadio Olimpico – before succumbing to Liverpool.

• The Rome club won all three home matches in last season's knockout rounds and five of their six matches at the Stadio Olimpico overall, drawing against Atlético Madrid on matchday one. They kept clean sheets in the first five matches, before a 4-2 win against Liverpool in the semi-final second leg.

• Roma have now won eight of their last 15 home matches in the UEFA Champions League – qualifying included – losing four.

• The Giallorossi's defeat of Barcelona last season ended a run of four home games without a win against Spanish visitors, since that 2-1 scalp of Real Madrid in the 2007/08 round of 16. Roma have won only two of their last 11 games against Spanish sides, home and away (D2 L7); they had won their previous three matches before that run.

Real Madrid
• Madrid went down 1-0 at CSKA Moskva on matchday two – only the club's fifth defeat in the last 36 European matches – before beating Plzeň 2-1 at home and 5-0 away, the latter marking Santiago Solari's first match in charge following the departure of Julen Lopetegui on 29 October.

• Madrid are holders and 13-time champions. Semi-finalists or better in each of the last eight seasons, this is their 49th European Cup campaign – more than any other side.

• Third in last season's Liga, the Spanish giants are in the UEFA Champions League group stage for the 23rd time – a competition high they share with Barcelona and Porto.

• In 2017/18, Madrid finished second in their group – the second year running they had been runners-up in their section – but went on to beat Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Bayern München in the knockout rounds before Gareth Bale (2) and Karim Benzema scored in the 3-1 final victory against Liverpool in Kyiv.

• Madrid picked up six points away from home in last season's group stage, losing 3-1 at Tottenham but winning 3-1 at Borussia Dortmund and 6-0 at APOEL – the latter result their biggest away success in the UEFA Champions League.

• Victory in Plzen on matchday four means Madrid have won 12 of their last 20 European away matches, losing just four.

• Madrid's six-game winning run against Italian opponents was ended by Juventus – who they beat in the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League final in the middle of that run – in last season's quarter-final second leg. Madrid were beaten 3-1 at home, but squeezed through having won 3-0 in Turin.

• The Merengues have won their last three games in Italy, having previously gone eight matches without a victory (D4 L4).

• Under Lopetegui, the Merengues lost 4-2 to Atlético Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup in Tallinn in August, denying them a third straight triumph in the competition. The defeat in Moscow meant Madrid lost two European fixtures out of four under Lopetegui before his departure.

Links and trivia
• Have played in Spain:
Iván Marcano (Real Racing Club 2006–09, Villarreal 2009/10, Getafe 2010/11)
Steven N'Zonzi (Sevilla 2015–18)
Federico Fazio (Sevilla 2007–14 & 2016)
Diego Perotti (Sevilla 2008–14)

• N'Zonzi was in the Sevilla team beaten 3-2 by Madrid in the 2017 UEFA Super Cup.

• International team-mates:
Ante Ćorić & Luka Modrić (Croatia)
Steven N'Zonzi & Raphaël Varane (France)
Juan Jesus & Casemiro, Marcelo (Brazil)

• Toni Kroos scored Germany's last-gasp winner past Sweden's Robin Olsen in the group stage of this summer's FIFA World Cup.

• Italy's Daniele De Rossi scored a penalty equaliser against a Spain side featuring Dani Carvajal, Sergio Ramos and Nacho in a 1-1 World Cup qualifying draw in October 2016.

• Isco scored twice as Spain, also featuring Carvajal, Ramos and Marco Asensio, beat De Rossi and Italy 3-0 in September 2017.

Latest news

Roma
• Robin Olsen made his 50th appearance in UEFA club competition on matchday four.

• Roma have won seven of their last 11 games in all competitions, losing two; Saturday's 1-0 loss at Udinese ended a five-match unbeaten run.

• The Giallorossi have won only one of their last five Serie A matches (D2 L2), the 4-1 win against Sampdoria on 11 November.

• Juan Jesus scored his first goal for Roma against Sampdoria, his first strike since May 2013.

• Edin Džeko's matchday three double against CSKA made it eight goals in six matches for club and country; he has not found the net in his last seven games.

• Džeko is the joint top scorer in this season's UEFA Champions League with five goals, level with Lionel Messi.

• Roma have so far conceded 16 goals in 13 Serie A games; at this stage last season, they had shipped nine.

• Patrick Schick scored the only goal as the Czech Republic defeated Slovakia in the UEFA Nations League on 19 November.

• Džeko helped Bosnia and Herzegovina to a goalless draw in Austria that secured promotion to League A of the UEFA Nations League.

• Olsen – voted Sweden's best goalkeeper for the third consecutive year on 13 November – kept clean sheets in his country's UEFA Nations League wins against Turkey (1-0) and Russia (2-0) to help secure promotion.

• Olsen missed Saturday's defeat against Udinese with a minor thigh injury, while Lorenzo Pellegrini returned to action after suffering a thigh injury on international duty, but limped off after 78 minutes having suffered a recurrence of the problem.

• Kostas Manolas twisted his right ankle while playing for Greece against Finland in the UEFA Nations League on 15 November, going off after 27 minutes, and missed the Udinese defeat.

• Daniele De Rossi has not played since injuring his right knee during the 1-1 draw at Napoli on 28 October.

• Aleksandar Kolarov damaged a toe in Serbia's UEFA Nations League 2-1 victory against Montenegro on 17 November and missed the 4-1 win against Lithuania; both played at Udinese.

• Javier Pastore was out with a calf problem between 29 September and 20 October, when he returned as substitute against SPAL; he suffered a recurrence of the injury in the game and has not played since.

• Diego Perotti has not played since picking up a calf injury in a 2-0 loss at Bologna on 23 September. Rick Karsdorp (thigh) has not played since 16 September, although he was on the bench at Udinese.

Real Madrid
• Casemiro made his 50th appearance in the UEFA Champions League, group stage to final, on matchday four.

• Santiago Solari was named permanent manager on 13 November after making the best start as Madrid coach in the club's history, winning his first four games with a goal difference of plus 13.

• The Merengues were beaten 3-0 at Eibar on Saturday, their fifth Liga defeat of the season; they suffered only six in the whole of 2017/18.

• After losing 5-1 to Barcelona on 28 October, Julen Lopetegui's last game in charge, Madrid won their next four games in all competitions, scoring 15 goals.

• Madrid were without a win in five Liga matches (D1 L4), their worst run since May 2009, before beating Valladolid 2-0 on 3 November.

• After going between 1 September and 23 October without scoring, Karim Benzema has five goals in his last seven appearances and three in his last three.

• Gareth Bale, who has not scored in the Liga since 1 September, was on target in Wales's 2-1 home UEFA Nations League defeat by Denmark on 16 November. He has two international goals and two in the UEFA Champions League since his last league strike.

• Sergio Ramos scored a penalty in Spain's 3-2 UEFA Nations League defeat in Croatia on 15 November. The Madrid captain has scored in three of his last five games for club and country, all from the spot, and has four Liga goals this season, also all penalties. His penalty against Croatia made it four successive internationals in which he had scored for Spain, and was the first penalty in that sequence.

• Dani Ceballos struck his first international goal in Spain's loss to Croatia.

• Dani Carvajal had not played since matchday two due to a calf problem before returning as a second-half substitute at Eibar.

• Raphaël Varane went off at half-time at Barcelona with an adductor problem, returning in France's 2-0 UEFA Nations League loss in the Netherlands on 16 November.

• Marcelo returned at Eibar having not played since the loss at Barcelona on 28 October due to a hamstring problem. Mariano Díaz also has a hamstring injury while Jesús Vallejo is carrying a thigh problem.

• Nacho picked up a knee injury in the 4-2 win at Celta Vigo on 11 November. Casemiro (ankle) went off in the first half while Sergio Reguilón was withdrawn at half-time with hamstring trouble; all missed the Eibar trip.

• Luka Modrić was voted UEFA Men's Player of the Year for 2017/18 on 30 August. The Croatian also collected the award for UEFA Champions League Midfielder of the Season, with club-mates Keylor Navas and Sergio Ramos picking up the prizes for Goalkeeper and Defender respectively.