Roma vs Vitesse: UEFA Europa Conference League background, form guide, previous meetings

Roma's quest for a first major UEFA trophy continues at the Stadio Olimpico, where they bring a 1-0 lead into the second leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League round of 16 tie with Dutch side Vitesse.

• Despite the shock of a 6-1 defeat away to Bodø/Glimt on Matchday 3, Roma pipped the Norwegian champions to top spot in UEFA Europa Conference League Group C, scoring 18 goals – the most of any team in the group stage.

• Vitesse were runners-up to Rennes in UEFA Europa Conference League Group G on ten points during the autumn before coming from behind to eliminate Rapid Wien in the UEFA Europa Conference League knockout round play-offs (1-2 a, 2-0 h).

Previous meetings
• The first leg in Arnhem, which was the clubs' first meeting in UEFA competition, was decided by a single goal, scored in first-half added time by Roma's loan recruit from Porto, Sérgio Oliveira, who was later sent off for a second yellow card.

• Roma have won all three of their previous two-legged ties against Dutch opponents, the two most recent by 3-2 aggregate margins on the back of victories in the Netherlands – against Feyenoord in the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League round of 32 (1-1 h, 2-1 a) and Ajax in last season's UEFA Europa League quarter-final (2-1 a, 1-1 h). They are unbeaten at home by Dutch clubs (W1 D3).

• The team from Arnhem have won just one of their seven previous matches against opposition from Italy (D3 L3) – the first, 1-0 at home to Parma in the first round of the 1994/95 UEFA Cup, though a 0-2 defeat in the second leg would send them out of a competition that their conquerors went on to win. Also eliminated by Inter in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup second round on away goals (0-0 a, 1-1 h) in their only other two-legged tie, Vitesse have yet to win in three excursions to Italy but have drawn their last two games there, most recently 1-1 at Lazio in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League group stage.

Form guide
Roma
• Roma finished seventh in Serie A last season, 29 points behind champions Inter, to become Italy's first UEFA Europa Conference League representatives. After topping their 2020/21 UEFA Europa League group, which included Young Boys, CFR Cluj and CSKA-Sofia, Paulo Fonseca's side eliminated Braga, Shakhtar Donetsk and Ajax in the knockout phase, only to fall to Manchester United in the semi-finals.

• Now led by another Portuguese coach, José Mourinho, Roma won both legs of their UEFA Europa Conference League play-off against Trabzonspor, but on Matchday 3 fell to that remarkable 6-1 defeat at Bodø/Glimt, who then held them 2-2 in Rome a fortnight later. However, the Giallorossi took maximum points off both CSKA-Sofia (5-1 h, 3-2 a) and Zorya Luhansk (3-0 a, 4-0 h) to finish a point ahead of their Norwegian rivals at the top of the group.

• A 0-2 defeat against holders Real Madrid in the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League group stage is the only one of their last 26 European fixtures in the Italian capital that Roma have lost, winning 19. They are now unbeaten in 16 UEFA matches at the Olimpico (W11 D5).

• Roma have a perfect record of 13 wins from 13 in UEFA ties when they have been victorious away from home in the first leg, the most recent case this season's UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying play-off win against Trabzonspor (2-1 a, 3-0 h). They have won the first away leg 1-0 on two previous occasions, the second of them against Boavista in the second round of the 2000/01 UEFA Cup (1-1 h).

Vitesse
• Vitesse ended their 2020/21 Eredivisie campaign in fourth place, which earned them a return to Europe after a two-season absence in the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League.

• Thomas Letsch's side earned their group stage berth with two tight qualifying phase victories over Dundalk and Anderlecht, and subsequently came through Group G in second place, the highlight a 1-0 home win against Tottenham Hotspur, whose 0-3 forfeit against section winners Rennes on Matchday 6 meant that Vitesse's 3-1 win at home to bottom club Mura was sufficient to secure the Arnhem club's first ever qualification for springtime European football.

• Vitesse's 2-1 win at Dundalk in the third qualifying round second leg was their first victory outside the Netherlands in UEFA competition since 2002 – a run of 11 matches (D6 L5). Their away record in Europe this term is W2 D2 L2, with 13 goals scored, at least one in every game.

• Vitesse have lost all of the previous five UEFA ties in which they were beaten at home in the first leg. The last four have have all been after 0-1 first-leg scorelines, most recently in the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round when they also lost the second leg 1-0 at Basel.

UEFA Europa Conference League squad changes
Roma
In: Felix Afena-Gyan, Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Arsenal, loan), Sérgio Oliveira (Porto, loan), Antonio Satriano
Out: Riccardo Calafiori (Genoa, loan), Borja Mayoral (Getafe, loan), Bryan Reynolds (Kortrijk, loan), Gonzalo Villar (Getafe, loan)

Vitesse
In: Gyan de Regt, Adrian Grbić (Lorient, loan), Eric Verstappen
Out: Oussama Darfalou (PEC Zwolle, loan), Oussama Tannane (Göztepe), Julian von Moos (St Gallen)

Links and trivia
• Vitesse's Danish striker Nikolai Baden Frederiksen joined the club after playing nine times for the Juventus Under-23 side in Italy's Serie C, while his compatriot Jacob Rasmussen is currently on loan to the Arnhem side from Fiorentina having made 14 Serie A appearances for Tuscan neighbours Empoli.

• Roma's squad features a Dutch international, former Feyenoord defender Rick Karsdorp.

• Roma's English striker Tammy Abraham is the joint top scorer in the competition with six goals, alongside Bodø/Glimt's Ola Solbakken.

• Vitesse are joined by three other Dutch sides in the UEFA Europa Conference League round of 16 – AZ Alkmaar, Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven. The only other country with more than one representative is France, with two – Marseille and Rennes.

Penalty shoot-outs
• Roma's record in four UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W1 L3:
4-2 v Norrköping, 1982/83 UEFA Cup second round
3-4 v Liverpool, 1983/84 European Champion Clubs’ Cup final
3-4 v Real Zaragoza, 1986/87 European Cup Winners’ Cup first round
6-7 v Arsenal, 2008/09 UEFA Champions League round of 16

• Vitesse have yet to feature in a UEFA penalty shoot-out.