Roma v Albion
EUROPA LEAGUE - ROUND OF 16
Venue: Stadio Olimpico
Date: Thursday 7th March 2024
Kick-off: 17:45 GMT
Referee: François Letexier
Assistants: Cyril Mugnier
, Mehdi Rahmouni Fourth Official: Pierre Gaillouste
VAR: Jérôme Brisard
Additional VAR: Willy Delajod
UEFA Referee Observer: David Fernández Borbalán
UEFA Delegate: Karl Espen Eriksen
Brighton midfielder Pascal Gross wants his side to do "something special" in their first European knockout tie.
The Seagulls face Italian giants Roma in their Europa League last-16 first leg at Rome's Stadio Olimpico on Thursday (17:45 GMT).
After finishing top of Group B, Brighton now have a chance to create more club history as they aim to reach a first quarter-final.
"We are very excited about tomorrow," said German midfielder Gross.
"We will be humble but will want to do something special."
Italian manager Roberto de Zerbi said he is "proud to be back in my country with my team".
"We will give it a go," he added. "We will be humble. We know what we have done in the last year and a half. This is unprecedented for this club and we are making history."
Daniele de Rossi's Roma, who sit fifth in Serie A, finished runners-up in the competition last season, having won the Europa Conference League in 2021-22.
STATS
- This will be Brighton's first meeting with an Italian club in European competition. Premier League sides have progressed from seven of their nine knockout ties against Italian clubs in the Europa League, including their past five in a row.
- Roma have only lost one of their past 23 home games in the Europa League (W17 D5), a 2-1 defeat by Real Betis in the 2022-23 group stage. Since then, they have won eight out of nine home games in the competition (D1).
- In Brighton's first ever season in European competition, they have reached the knockout rounds. They are the first English club to make their knockout round debut in any major Uefa competition (excluding pre-group rounds), since Bolton Wanderers in the 2005-06 Uefa Cup.
- Roma centre-back Diego Llorente has never ended on the winning side in four appearances against Brighton when playing for parent club Leeds United in the Premier League (D2 L2).
Roberto De Zerbi and Pascal Gross's Roma Press Conference
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