AS Roma coach Daniele De Rossi thinks the atmosphere in the Stadio Olimpico may be a bit more intense than Albion are used to, even in the Premier League.
But he expects the meeting with the side coached by his good friend Roberto De Zerbi to be a good match.
"I think that for any footballer it is very nice to play here in Stadio Olimpico,” he said ahead of tonight's Europa League round of 16 first-leg tie.
“Brighton are also used to playing in full stadiums in the Premier League, but I think that here the heat will be a little higher than they are used to. It is up to us to make our fans happy.”
Roma have only lost one of their eight games since Di Rossi – Italy’s most capped midfielder and a World Cup winner – replaced Jose Mourinho on an interim basis in January.
De Rossi is expecting an intriguing tactical battle with De Zerbi and an Albion side he described as an ‘emerging club’. He said, “Graham Potter did a very good job and Roberto [De Zerbi] has built on that, giving an even more recognisable brand to this team. I think that Roma are a great team that must respect Brighton and how they play, but we are Roma.
“I think it will be a great match. The first thing we need to know is that Brighton can make Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal play in their own half. But they can also be beaten. They were badly beaten by Aston Villa, Luton, Fulham. There will be various games within the match.”
One obvious threat on the pitch striker Romelu Lukaku, who has scored three goals in six matches against Albion, two for Manchester United and one for Chelsea.
And he has an outstanding record in the Europa League, with 21 goals in 23 games in the competition in the last three seasons and 26 in 41 appearances in total.
He has only failed to score once in his last 17 Europa League matches – the play-off against Feyenoord which booked Roma’s place at this stage of the competition, when he also missed a penalty in the shoot-out win.
Another incentive for the Belgium forward is that he needs three more goals to reach 300 in his career.