(Football news) Following a 1-1 draw at De Kuip last week, Romelu Lukaku finished his amazing Europa League run to secure a draw for the Giallorossi, although the tie is still in the balance.
Daniele De Rossi and his team will have been happy to leave the furnace of De Kuip with a draw to take home, despite their performance in Rotterdam being just below average.
In addition to extending his incredible Europa League run of scoring in 17 of his previous 18 games in the competition, Lukaku’s equalizer in the second half may prove crucial in determining the outcome of the tie.
Performances and results have been largely positive since De Rossi replaced Jose Mourinho in the Roma dugout, as the former midfielder started with three wins before an unfortunate 4-2 loss to runaway Serie A leaders Inter Milan.That remains their only defeat in six since De Rossi took over, as a positive draw in the first leg was followed up by a convincing 3-0 win over Frosinone at the weekend.
Form under De Rossi has seen Roma rise to sixth and leave many strong sides in their wake below them, but there is still a four-point gap between themselves and the top four.
Roma’s recent results over Feyenoord will also give them huge belief ahead of this second leg, as they progressed despite losing the first leg at De Kuip in the quarter-finals of this competition last season, on their way to the final.
Feyenoord were also the opponents Roma defeated in the inaugural Europa Conference League final back in 2022, as the Italians won their first piece of European silverware for 61 years.
Roma is the only team that has ever defeated the Netherlands in the knockout stages of UEFA competitions, and they did so in each of the last two seasons as well as the 2014–15 campaign, so the Dutch will become tired of seeing them.
Arne Slot’s team will therefore need to create history at the Olimpico in order to continue their European run; but, in their previous 29 away games across all competitions, they have only failed to score once, against Lazio in November here in the Italian capital.
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