- Roma currently trail 2-1 to Shakhtar Donetsk but play the second leg at home
- Alessando Florenzi says their impressive Champions League home form will help
- Roma come into the game on the back of a 3-0 win against Torino
Roma full-back Alessando Florenzi has challenged his team-mates to maintain their impressive Champions League home record and overturn their deficit to Shakhtar Donetsk to advance to the last eight.
The Serie A side host the second leg of their round of 16 clash trailing 2-1 on aggregate after falling to defeat in Ukraine last month.
Facundo Ferreyra and the sought-after Fred scored Shakhtar’s goals as they came from behind to take charge of the tie heading to the Stadio Olimpico.
Roma will have to overturn the 2-1 loss when they play Shakhtar Donetsk at home this week
Roma warmed up for the game with a straightforward 3-0 home win over Torino at the weekend and having taken seven points from a possible nine in the group stage, Florenzi wants to continue that run.
“The desire we have is to repeat the home games played in the Champions League so far,” he told reporters on the eve of the second leg.
“We have missed a little something in the league but the last match against Torino was good. We want to qualify of course but we must also pay attention to the qualities of Shakhtar.
“It will be important to manage the game over 90 minutes but we must try to play our football.
“We want to approach it well and do our best.”
Alessandro Florenzi has called on his team to repeat their Champions League home displays
Roma have been training ahead of the match as they try to reach the quarter finals
Shakhtar have not reached the quarter-final stage of the Champions League since 2011 and even then they were hammered 6-1 on aggregate by eventual winners Barcelona.
Tuesday’s game presents a real opportunity for Paulo Fonseca’s side to at least emulate the achievements of seven years ago and Ismaily insists their progression can be based on a strong defensive platform, with Cengiz Under’s opener for Roma in the first leg the only goal conceded in their last five matches.
“It is important that we have kept a few consecutive clean sheets in recent games without letting our opponents create any danger near our goal,” the Brazilian full-back told Shakhtar’s official website.
“I think we are ready to take on Roma. We need to spend the remaining time before the match in Rome in the most effective way and deliver a spectacular performance there as well.”