Preview: Bologna vs Roma - prediction, team news, lineups

Commencing a battle to be the last Italian team standing in this season's Europa League, Bologna and Roma will clash at Stadio Dall'Ara on Thursday.

The Serie A pair must beat familiar foes in their last-16 tie, with a quarter-final against either Lille or Aston Villa ultimately at stake.

Match preview

Having progressed from their first UEFA knockout tie for 26 years - beating SK Brann 1-0 in both legs of a playoff - Bologna are now aiming to ride that momentum and reach the Europa League's latter stages.

Since losing at Villa Park on the opening matchday, the Emilian club have lost none of their next nine fixtures in the current campaign, thereby matching their all-time best unbeaten sequence in Europe.

Just avoiding defeat on Thursday evening would see them surpass a streak set way back in 1967, but coach Vincenzo Italiano will aim to take a first-leg lead down to Rome.

A 10th-placed finish in the league phase may have meant they had to take the playoff route, but Bologna are still firmly in the hunt for more silverware.

Last term, the Rossoblu followed their Champions League debut by ending a 51-year wait to lift the Coppa Italia; however, this season has not quite delivered the same highs.

Italiano and co endured a dramatic mid-winter downturn, in which they struggled to pick up points and were knocked out of the cup, but there have since been signs of recovery.

Despite inching back up to eighth place in Serie A, they still trail their next visitors by 12 points, and any hopes of returning to Europe surely rest on winning the Europa League.

When the sides met at Stadio Olimpico earlier this season, Roma won 1-0; but before the teams reconvene in Emilia-Romagna, that is Bologna's lone loss across the last six meetings.

Both teams endured defeat against relegation-threatened opponents at the weekend, with Bologna losing 2-1 to Hellas Verona and Roma being beaten by the same scoreline in Genoa.

Roman legend Daniele De Rossi was the architect of his beloved club's downfall, as his Genoa side served another blow to the Giallorossi's dreams of Champions League qualification.

One week on from spilling a two-goal lead against top-four rivals Juventus, Gian Piero Gasperini's men slipped up again, so they face a huge clash with fifth-placed Como this Sunday.

First, they must resume a continental campaign that has proceeded pretty smoothly so far: a final matchday point at Panathinaikos was enough to see them straight through by finishing eighth in the league phase.

Twice runners-up in UEFA's second-tier tournament - in 1991 and 2023 - Roma also boast a coach with recent experience of Europa League success, as Gasperini lifted the trophy with Atalanta less than two years ago.

Furthermore, the capital club have won the first leg of their last six European last-16 ties, although they were still eliminated last year despite beating Athletic Bilbao 2-1 in Rome.

Against fellow Italian teams, their record is more mixed: losing the UEFA Cup final over two legs to Inter Milan, then exiting to Fiorentina in the 2014-15 Europa League, before eliminating AC Milan from the same competition nine years later.

Bologna Europa League form:

W W D W W W

Bologna form (all competitions):

W W W W W L

Roma Europa League form:

L W W W W D

Roma form (all competitions):

L W D W D L

Team News

Bologna boss Italiano can recall defensive duo Torbjorn Heggem and Juan Miranda, both of whom have resumed full training and could be named on the bench.

Furthermore, experienced midfielder Remo Freuler is available after serving a domestic suspension; he may partner Nikola Moro, who ranks second in this season's Europa League for chances created (21) and passes in the final third (142).

Santiago Castro and Riccardo Orsolini are Bologna's joint-top league scorers with seven Serie A goals apiece, but the latter has gone off the boil in recent weeks.

As a result, Federico Bernardeschi, Nicolo Cambiaghi, Jonathan Rowe and Benjamin Domiguez are all in contention to start on either wing, supporting Castro or Thijs Dallinga up front.

Meanwhile, Roma remain short of attacking options, as Paulo Dybala has been sidelined by a knee injury, Artem Dovbyk (thigh) is still unavailable, and Evan Ferguson has seen his campaign ended by an ankle problem.

In their absence, Donyell Malen will lead the Giallorossi's attack: within a few weeks of his arrival, the Dutch forward has already joined Matias Soule as their leading league scorer on six goals and was recently named 'Serie A Player of the Month'.

While Wesley - who scored the winner against Bologna in August - is now back from a one-match ban, Italy defender Gianluca Mancini must sit out the first leg due to suspension.

Bologna possible starting lineup:

Skorupski; Zortea, Lucumi, Vitik, Mario; Ferguson, Freuler, Moro; Bernardeschi, Castro, Rowe

Roma possible starting lineup:

Svilar; Ziolkowski, Ndicka, Ghilardi; Celik, Cristante, Kone, Wesley; Pisilli, Zaragoza; Malen

We say: Bologna 1-1 Roma

Roma have won four of their last five games in Europe and have the Gasperini factor, but Bologna had won five on the spin across all competitions before faltering last weekend.

While the Rossoblu have a very modest home record, Italiano also has continental pedigree - having reached a Conference League final with Fiorentina - so his team can stay on level terms ahead of next week's second leg.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.