Match Summary :
Shakhtar and Roma will be looking to make the most of a golden chance of progressing in the Champions League (CL) round-of-16, after navigating through tough groups.
The hosts qualified from Group F after pipping current Serie A (SA) leaders Napoli to second place, behind Manchester City. However, they only returned to competitive action last week after a two-month break. Will that prove detrimental to their quarter-final hopes?
Roma qualified as Group C toppers finishing ahead of Chelsea and avoiding the big names in the last-16. After going through a winless run of matches (D3, L4), they stormed back to form with three consecutive wins in SA. Can they make the most of a relatively favourable draw?
Shakhtar have reached the last-16 on three occasions before, losing twice and managing just one win, which was incidentally over Roma in 2011. Overall, in four games against Roma, they have won three.
Roma, on the other hand, are making their sixth last-16 appearance, although they have not advanced to the quarter-final in a decade. In addition, they have lost their last three ties at this stage.
Key battles: Facundo Ferreyra (Shakhtar) has 11 goals in his last 12 matches.
Cengiz Under (Roma) has four goals and an assist in his last three SA games.
Stat attack: Shakhtar won all three of their home fixtures in their group, including a surprise defeat for Manchester City, but have kept only one clean sheet in their last 12 CL matches.
Roma were without a victory in ten away CL games (D5, L5) before a 2-1 win over Qarabag this season.
Roma’s tally of 11 points was the lowest total among all the group winners in the CL this season.
