Borussia Mönchengladbach v Roma facts

All outcomes are still possible in Group J, with fourth-placed Borussia Mönchengladbach, who currently top the Bundesliga, entertaining section leaders Roma in the knowledge that a home win will erase the Italian side's three-point advantage and rekindle their own prospects of reaching the round of 32. The German side escaped with a 1-1 draw from the Stadio Olimpico in the clubs' first meeting on Matchday 3 thanks to an added-time Lars Stindl penalty, having trailed since Nicolò Zaniolo's 32nd-minute opener.

• Mönchengladbach also struck late to salvage a 1-1 draw against İstanbul Başakşehir on Matchday 2 following a shock opening-night 0-4 defeat at home to Austrian group stage debutants Wolfsberg. Roma, conversely, made a dynamic start to the section, overpowering the Turkish side 4-0 at home before drawing 1-1 in Austria.

Previous meetings
• Mönchengladbach have won more games than they have lost against Italian sides (W5 D8 L4), but five of those draws have come in the eight fixtures in Germany. The last of those brought their solitary home defeat – 0-1 against Fiorentina in the first leg of the 2016/17 UEFA Europa League round of 32, a tie Gladbach would win in spectacular style when a Stindl hat-trick earned them a 4-2 second-leg success in Florence. The Foals have not beaten an Italian side at home, however, since October 1975 – a winless run stretching to five matches.

• This is Roma's 28th fixture against German opposition, ten of their 13 matches in Germany having ended in defeat (W2 D1). Their last four visits have all been in the UEFA Champions League group stage, three defeats preceding the most recent encounter, a 4-4 draw at Bayer Leverkusen in October 2015.

Form guide
Mönchengladbach
• A fifth-placed finish in the 2018/19 German Bundesliga booked a starting berth for Mönchengladbach in the UEFA Europa League group stage, returning the club to European competition after a two-season absence.

• Gladbach qualified from both of their previous UEFA Europa League groups, in 2012/13 and 2014/15, before going out each time in the round of 32. Having crossed over from the UEFA Champions League midway through the 2016/17 season, they made it third time lucky in that round with that comeback triumph against Fiorentina before going out on away goals in an all-German round of 16 tie with Schalke (1-1 a, 2-2 h).

• The German club are without a win in six European home games (D3 L3), since a 6-1 victory against Young Boys in the second leg of their 2016/17 UEFA Champions League play-off. Their last home win in the UEFA Europa League was also against Swiss opposition – 3-0 versus FC Zürich in the 2014/15 group stage.

Roma
• Roma finished sixth in last season's Serie A, missing out on UEFA Champions League qualification for the first time in six years. They were defeated 4-3 on aggregate after extra time by Porto in the 2018/19 round of 16 having reached the previous season's semi-finals.

• This is the Giallorossi's fifth participation in the UEFA Europa League proper but only their third appearance in the group stage. They have won their group on both previous occasions, in 2009/10 and 2016/17, reaching the round of 16 in the latter campaign.

• Roma are 14 games unbeaten in the UEFA Europa League group stage (W8 D6). Their only away defeat in a group came on Matchday 1 of the competition's inaugural season in 2009/10, when they lost 2-0 at Basel; since then they have won two and drawn four.

Links and trivia 
• Roma's Edin Džeko was a prolific Bundesliga marksman with Wolfsburg from 2011 to 2014, scoring 66 goals in 111 games, becoming a German champion in 2008/09 and the league's top scorer, with 22 goals, the following season. In his five Bundesliga matches against Mönchengladbach (W4 D1) he scored three goals and provided one assist.

• Henrikh Mkhitaryan played for Borussia Dortmund between 2013 and 2016, scoring 23 goals in 90 Bundesliga outings. In his five appearances against Gladbach (W3 L2) he registered three goals and one assist.

The coaches
• Marco Rose replaced Dieter Hecking as Mönchengladbach's new head coach for the 2019/20 season. He arrived as an Austrian double winner and two-time champion with Salzburg, having also led the club to victory in the 2016/17 UEFA Youth League. A defender with home-town club VfB Leipzig, Hannover and Mainz, he spent six years on Salzburg's coaching staff and masterminded a run to the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League semi-finals during his debut campaign as head coach. Last season he led Salzburg into the round of 16.

• Paulo Fonseca was appointed as the new Roma head coach on 11 June 2019. He arrived in the Eternal City having won the Ukrainian league and cup double in each of his three seasons with Shakhtar Donetsk, where he had replaced the long-serving Mircea Lucescu in 2016. A central defender of modest repute, he paid his dues as a coach in his native Portugal, first making his mark at Paços de Ferreira then joining Porto in 2013 before winning his first major trophy, the 2015/16 Portuguese Cup, with Braga.