AS Roma take on the visitors Athletic Bilbao in the first leg 1/8-finals of UEFA Europa League qualification. The match will be played on Thursday, September 26th at Stadio Olimpico (Rome).
Roma are set to play only their second match under their new manager. As it turned out, Roma legend Daniele De Rossi had less trust in Rome than his predecessor, José Mourinho. Mourinho could have been fired last summer after losing the Europa League final and falling behind in Serie A, but the club believed he could improve and ended up losing the season. De Rossi replaced Mourinho as interim manager near the end, and despite a decline in form in May, he earned a full-time shot. Roma even conducted a significant transfer campaign under his leadership, bringing in players like Dovbyk and Hummels. However, after four winless matches, De Rossi was dismissed. New coach Ivan Jurić made his debut against Udinese, securing a 3-0 victory.
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Athletic Bilbao faced some issues at the start. The Basques have shown greater trust in their coach, Ernesto Valverde, who has far more experience and achievements. Valverde returned to Bilbao in 2022, but his first season back wasn't the best: while the team improved, they lost a close battle to Osasuna for 7th place in La Liga and were eliminated in the Copa del Rey semifinals. Nonetheless, Valverde stayed on, and last season, his squad competed fiercely with Atlético Madrid for a top-four finish. Ultimately, Atlético secured 4th place and a Champions League spot, but Athletic knocked them out in the Copa del Rey semifinals and went on to win their first Copa del Rey in 40 years! This success likely helped Athletic retain their Euro champions Nico Williams and Unai López over the summer, and aside from veteran Muniain, they didn’t lose key players. The new season started slowly, with just one win and four points from the first four matches, but since then, they’ve beaten Las Palmas, Leganés, and most recently, Celta Vigo.
The clubs have met only once, in a 2019 friendly that ended in an entertaining 2-2 draw. Roma are the home favorites, but they face a solid opponent. A safer bet might be the neutral option of "over 2.0 total goals."
Prediction for the match: Over 2.0 scored goals.
