Roma make few changes for their final Champions League group stage trip to Viktoria Plzen and hope playing at home will help Patrik Schick.

It kicks off at 17.55 GMT in the Czech Republic.

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from this game and Young Boys v Juventus on the LIVEBLOG.

Roma make few changes for their final Champions League group stage trip to Viktoria Plzen and hope playing at home will help Patrik Schick.

It kicks off at 17.55 GMT in the Czech Republic.

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from this game and Young Boys v Juventus on the LIVEBLOG.

As Roma are already qualified and sure of second place in the group behind Real Madrid, this would be a perfect opportunity for Eusebio Di Francesco to rotate the squad.

He doesn’t do that very much, partly to prevent morale slipping further after a run of poor results, but also because he has so few alternatives available to him right now.

Edin Dzeko, Daniele De Rossi, Stephan El Shaarawy and Lorenzo Pellegrini are still out of action.

Therefore, Pastore returning for his first start in six weeks is the main change in attack with Cengiz Under, Justin Kluivert and Patrik Schick.

The hope is that playing in the Czech Republic will boost Schick’s confidence, as he is a forward with undoubted talent, but whose self-belief has been sapped by injury setbacks.

Ivan Marcano steps in to defence for Federico Fazio, but there is no rest for Aleksandar Kolarov or Kostas Manolas.

Viktoria Plzen are not yet sure of third place and a spot in the Europa League, but will be if they at least match the result CSKA Moscow get against Real Madrid.

They are missing Daniel Kolar and Michael Krmencik, with defender David Limbersky passing a late fitness test.

Roma have repeatedly confirmed their faith in Coach Di Francesco, who did take them to the Champions League semi-final last season, but the pressure is growing on the tactician.

When these sides met at the Stadio Olimpico, Dzeko bagged a hat-trick in the 5-0 victory.

Viktoria Plzen: Hruska; Havel, Hejda, Hubnik, Limbersky; Prochazka, Hrosovsky; Kopic, Cermak, Kovaric; Chory

Viktoria Plzen bench: Kozacik, Korava, Petrzela, Bucha, Reznicek, Pernica, Ekpal

Roma: Mirante; Santon, Marcano, Manolas, Kolarov; Nzonzi, Cristante; Ünder, Pastore, Kluivert; Schick

Roma bench: Olsen, Fazio, Juan Jesus, Florenzi, Luca Pellegrini, Zaniolo, Perotti

Ref: Taylor (ENG)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tickets Kit Collector