After their Europa League exertions in midweek, AS Roma turn their attention to their top-four quest in the Serie A this Sunday when they travel to Stadio Renato Dall’Ara to face Bologna.
The hosts have enjoyed a relatively solid campaign and are now looking to secure just a second top-half finish in Serie A since returning to the top flight in 2015.
Two points separate the team in eighth position and 13th ahead of the round. However, Thiago Motta’s men only have themselves to blame for being part of that crowd after a five-match winless run (D3, L2).
But the Rossoblù are at least unbeaten in five matches at home (W2, D3). Their positive home record this term has been built on a strong defence that has conceded just 12 goals at Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, a record only Inter can beat.
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Meanwhile, AS Roma comes into this tie on the back of a massive 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League. The win means that they have one leg planted in the competition’s final. Should they succeed in defending that one-goal deficit at BayArena this Thursday, they will be playing their second European final in two seasons under Jose Mourinho.
That will be some achievement for ‘the Special One’, whose European pedigree is enjoying new PR for his work at Stadio Olimpico.
However, in the league, the Portuguese manager is struggling to guide Roma to a top-four finish, with his side sitting outside the top-six ahead of this round.
Their poor league placement has been caused by a four-game winless run in the league (D2, L2). Mourinho’s men will be desperate to avoid a fifth game without a win but must improve on the road to avoid that. In addition, the Giallorossi have won just one of their last ten away matches in all competitions (D3, L6), whilst they’ve also conceded 21 of their 33 Serie A goals away from the Stadio Olimpico.
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