Having already faced three of European football’s storied clubs to get to the knockout stages of the Europa League, Albion now come up against another after being paired with AS Roma.
European pedigree
Roma, who reached the round of 16 with a penalty shoot-out win over Feyenoord on Thursday, got to last season's Europa League final in Budapest, drawing 1-1 with Seville before losing the penalty shootout 4-1. It came a year after they had won the Europa Conference League in 2022, beating Feyenoord 1-0.
The Giallorossi were European Cup finalists in 1984 and had home advantage in the final against Liverpool but lost 4-2 on a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw.
They also reached the final of the UEFA Cup in 1991 before losing to Italian rivals Inter Milan 2-1 in a two-legged affair.
Europa League campaign
Roma qualified for the knockout stages by finishing second in Group G. They beat Sheriff Tiraspol home and away 3-0 and 2-1; defeated Servette 4-0 at home and drew 1-1 in Switzerland; and suffered their only defeat to Slavia Prague 2-0 away having won by the same score in Rome.
In the knockout round both ties with Feyenoord finished 1-1. In the first leg, former Chelsea striker Romelu Lakaku scored his sixth goal in this season’s tournament. On Thursday in the Stadio Olimpico, Santiago Giminez put the Dutch side in front on aggregate but Lorenzo Pellegrini equalised. Lukaku was the only Roma player to miss his penalty as they won the shootout 4-2.
Who’s in charge
Former Roma player Daniele De Rossi took over last month when Jose Mourinho was sacked in the wake of a 3-1 defeat against AC Milan that left Roma ninth in Serie A which came after city rivals Lazio had knocked them out of the Italian Cup.
De Rossi spent 18 years with Roma, making his debut in 2003 and going on to play for them more than 500 times. The midfielder also won 117 caps for Italy, making his debut in 2004 and scoring one of the penalties in their successful shootout win against France in the final two years later.
A captain of his country, he scored 21 international goals – more than any midfielder in Italian history. After a brief spell with Boca Juniors De Rossi took his first steps in management with SPAL where he was in charge for just five months before being dismissed with SPAL 18th in Serie B.
They are currently sixth in Serie A having won four of their last five league games.
Some quick reactions from the squad before training after today's #UELdraw... 👀 pic.twitter.com/CHce2lAjrc
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) February 23, 2024
The Stadio Olimpico
AS Roma’s fabled home was originally built in 1928 and has been expanded and improved over the years with a major upgrade taking place when Rome hosted the 1960 Olympics and the ground was renamed. More improvements took place before the stadium hosted matches for the 1990 World Cup.
The Stadio Olimpico is also home to Lazio and the current capacity is 70,634. Two days Albion play there, it will host the Six Nations rugby match between Italy and Scotland.