By Arjun Chadha
Tonight, in perhaps the most eye-catching match-up of the UEFA Champions League Play-Off Round, Porto take on Roma at the Estadio do Dragao.
The home side are looking for a positive start under new head coach Nuno Espirito Santo, most recently of Valencia, whilst qualification to the group stage for Roma would give Italian football three clubs in the continent's top competition for just the second time since losing its fourth spot in 2011.
Nuno Espirito Santo will be desperate to win this huge battle
Qualification would also be crucial for the club's accounts, which have fallen afoul of UEFA's financial fair play (FFP) regulations once before. This summer has left sporting director Walter Sabatini desperate in the transfer market with the majority of signings being loan deals after the €32 million sale of star midfielder Miralem Pjanic to Juventus in June. Most recently, Bruno Peres was signed from Torino for a fee that could rise to £11 million. Peres is certainly an impressive signing offensively - in 2015-16, Peres was the defender that completed the most dribbles (83) and shots on target (15) across Europe's top five leagues - and is capable of playing anywhere across the right flank. His position in Roma’s team will be interesting to see throughout the season, with head coach Luciano Spalletti understood to be keen to use him as an attacking right-back, ostensibly to revert to his preferred back-three. Peres, however, will not be ready for tonight’s match, meaning that Alessandro Florenzi looks set to start the campaign in the makeshift right-back slot he held for the majority of last season.
Peres is Roma's biggest signing of the summer, but will not be able to play tonight
Corriere Dello Sport has stated that Roma could earn around €40m upon qualifying for the group stage this year, providing the club with financial breathing space. Dropping down to the Europa League would leave Roma with crumbs and be a dreadful way to start a season in which they will once again, along with Napoli, be expected to challenge Juventus' domestic dominance.
As for Porto, this will be the first time they take on the Giallorossi since November 1981’s European Cup Winner’s Cup second round match, in which Porto triumphed. The Portuguese giants have endured a torrid time of late in UEFA club competitions, losing their last four matches without scoring a single goal. Their only previous UEFA Champions League play-off tie came in 2014-15, where they overcame LOSC Lille 3-0 on aggregate. However, Roma are a sterner test.
Without any doubt whatsoever, whichever team drops into the Europa League will be a contender for that tournament, with Porto in particular boasting real pedigree in UEFA club competitions, with two European Cups and UEFA Cups apiece.
Predicted Line-ups:
FC Porto: I Casillas, M Pereira, B Martins Indi, I Marcano, M Layun, A Andre, R Neves, H Herrera, J Corona, V Aboubakar, Y Brahimi
AS Roma: W Sczeszny, A Florenzi, A Rudiger, T Vermaelen, K Manolas, R Nainggolan, D de Rossi, D Perotti, S El Shaarawy, M Salah, E Dzeko
Powell’s Perspective Prediction: FC Porto 1-1 AS Roma
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