Big Match Feature: Chelsea v Roma

Chelsea FC and AS Roma both won 2-1 away on matchday two, and will be looking to cement their status in Group C as they meet at Stamford Bridge. The match pits Chelsea's Italian manager Antonio Conte against old rivals Roma; the Serie A outfit have taken four points from their two games so far, two points fewer than their London opponents.

Previous Meetings

Home sides held the upper hand in the teams' only previous fixtures, in the 2008/09 group stage. Luiz Felipe Scolari's Chelsea won the first game 1-0 in London, John Terry getting the only goal in the 77th minute. 

The teams at Stamford Bridge on 22 October 2008 were:

Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Carvalho, Terry, Bridge, Mikel, Deco, Malouda (Belletti 46), Lampard, Kalou (Di Santo 77), Anelka (Paulo Ferreira 90+3). Roma: Doni, Cicinho, Panucci, Mexès, Riise (Tonetto 82), Aquilani (Perrotta 61), Taddei (Ménez 81), De Rossi, Brighi, Totti, Vucinic.

The Italian side, then coached by Luciano Spalletti, turned the tables on 4 November, a goal from Christian Panucci (34) and a Mirko Vucinic double (48, 58) securing a 3-1 home victory at the Stadio Olimpico despite Terry's 75thminute reply for Chelsea, who lost Nicolas Anelka to a second booking nine minutes from time.

Match Background

Chelsea

This is Chelsea's first meeting with Italian opponents since the 2012/13 group stage, when they collected one point from two games against Juventus; Roberto Di Matteo's side were held 2-2 at home before a 3-0 reverse in Turin helped seal their early exit, becoming the first holders to fail to get through the following season's group stage. Chelsea's home record against Italian clubs is W5 D2 L2.

Conte's side are the early leaders in Group C having beaten debutants Qarabag FK 6-0 on matchday one before Michy Batshuayi secured a 2-1 victory at Club Atlético de Madrid with the final kick of the game. Champions of England for a sixth time in 2016/17, Chelsea were not involved in European competition last term for the first time since 1996/97. They had appeared in every Uefa Champions League group stage going back to 2003/04. European champions in 2012, Chelsea got to the round of 16 on their last Uefa Champions League appearance in 2015/16, losing to Paris Saint-Germain at that stage for the second year running. The Stamford Bridge side lost 2-1 at home to Paris in the 2016 round of 16, their sole defeat in their last nine matches in west London (W6 D2). The Londoners have won their Uefa Champions League group on their last three appearances, and 11 times overall. The only time they have failed to progress to the last 16 was 2012/13, when they became the first holders to go out in the group phase; they went on to win the Uefa Europa League. 

Roma

Roma have four points from their two Group C games, opening with a goalless draw at home to Atlético before a 2-1 victory at Qarabag.  That Qarabag success was Roma's first win in eight Uefa Champions League matches, home and away and including qualifying, since a 3-2 home victory over Bayer 04 Leverkusen on 4 November 2015. They have now won two of their last 17 games in the competition. The Italian side were eliminated by FC Porto in last season's play-offs (1-1 away, 0-3 home). They got as far as the Uefa Europa League round of 16, where they were defeated 5-4 over two legs by Olympique Lyonnais.  Roma won two of their five away fixtures in last season's Uefa Europa League but, in the Uefa Champions League, were without a victory in ten away matches, including qualifying (D5 L5), before matchday two. A 3-2 triumph at FC Basle 1893 in the 2009/10 group stage is their only other victory in their last 13 away games in the competition, group stage to final (D5 L7).

Roma have won only one of their 15 away games in England, losing nine. Their last trip was a 1-1 draw at Manchester City FC in the 2014/15 group stage, in which Francesco Totti became the oldest goalscorer in the Uefa Champions League. 

The Giallorossi's sole victory in England was a 1-0 at Liverpool FC in the 2000/01 Uefa Cup fourth round second leg; even then they bowed out on aggregate having lost 2-0 at home. 6

Second in Serie A in 2016/17, Roma are in the group stage for a tenth time and the third in four years.

Coach and Player Links

Conte played in Serie A for US Lecce (1985–91) and Juventus (1991–2004). He also coached Atalanta BC (2009/10) and Juventus (2011–14) in Serie A before taking charge of Italy between 2014 and joining Chelsea in 2016.

Conte coached Roma players Daniele De Rossi, Alessandro Florenzi and Stephan El Shaarawy with the Azzurri.