Roma vs Viktoria Plzen 03/10/18

03 October 2018

The Champions League clash between AS Roma and Viktoria Plzen will see the hosts searching for their first points in Europe this season and trying to bounce back after a difficult night in Madrid two weeks ago.

The Giallorossi have suffered a 3-0 defeat to Real Madrid at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, failing to show anything in the final third, with the first-choice goalkeeper Robin Olsen being the only reason Los Blancos didn’t demolish last season’s semi-finalists. In the meantime, Eusebio Di Francesco’s side suffered a humiliating 2-0 loss to Bologna in the Italian Serie A, after which they’ve managed to move up a gear and clinch two straight wins, including the one against the arch-rivals Lazio last weekend in the Derby of the Capital.

On the other hand, the Viktorka, who currently trail Slavia Prague by a point in the Czech First League, opened the Champions League campaign with a 2-2 draw with the Russian giants CSKA Moscow despite having a 2-goal lead at the half-time break. An unfortunate penalty that led to CSKA’s equalizer has had a negative impact on the national title holders, as they suffered a bad 3-0 loss to Jablonec in the league five days later. However, Pavel Vrba’s players will be traveling to Rome full of confidence following a promising 1-0 triumph over big rivals Sparta Prague last weekend.

Diego Perrotti is yet to return to full fitness, while the appearance of Javier Pastore hangs in the balance after the Argentinean picked up a nasty looking injury against the Biancocelesti a few days ago. As for the visitors, the two experienced centre-backs Marian Cisovsky and Roman Hubnik will remain on the sidelines due to various physical problems.