Porto at Roma 2/12/19 - Champions League Picks & Predictions

The Champions League returns to action this week with the knock-out round, and Italian side Roma will play host to Portuguese side Porto on Tuesday. The first leg will be played in Rome, and Porto have actually been quite a hard nut to crack against the Italians over the years. Roma will look to take whatever advantage they can from this first leg.

Roma have had a rather mediocre run in this stage of the competition over the years, with three wins and three losses. They had lost five consecutive matches in the round of 16 when they beat Shakhtar Donetsk last season. Roma’s record on two-legged knock-out ties against teams from Portugal stands at W3 L3. Their most recent loss was at home against Porto in2016, a loss that was Roma’s second in their last 11 matches against Portuguese sides (5-2-4). Porto haven’t had the same luck in the round of 16 over the years, with just three wins and seven losses, and winning just once in their last five ties. However, this is the third year in a row that they manage to reach this stage but have not made it past this round since 2014/15. Porto have been solid in two-legged ties against Italian sides, winning five of their nine overall. Their win to Roma back in 2016 was their first win in seven trips to Italy (1-4-2).