Real Sociedad vs Roma

Real Sociedad have a mountain to climb if they’re to qualify for the Europa League quarter-finals after losing the first leg 2-0 at Roma as the two sides go head-to-head in the return fixture at the Reale Arena.

The pressure continues to mount on Real Sociedad manager Imanol Alguacil after his men slumped to a 1-1 draw at La Liga mid-table outfit Mallorca at the weekend, stretching their disappointing winless run in all competitions to five games (D3, L2). Sociedad flew out of the traps since club football resumed in December, stitching together three straight home victories but have since gone winless in three consecutive matches in San Sebastian (D2, L1). Alguacil’s lads have shown signs of attacking glitches of late, netting under 1.5 goals in their last four home outings, suggesting overcoming a two-goal deficit could be a tall order. A disastrous return of one win from seven European clashes against Italian opposition (D2, L4) will hardly boost their confidence.

Meanwhile, Roma’s bid to advance into the Europa League quarter-finals for the second time in three years seems like a mere formality following a convincing first-leg success. ‘I Giallorossi’ have progressed all five of their previous Europa League two-legged ties in the knockout stages when winning the first leg, so Jose Mourinho’s hopes of building on last season’s Europa Conference League triumph look safe and sound for now. The ‘Special One’ is also somewhat of an expert in this type of game, having lost just two of his 16 Europa League knockout games as a manager (W11, D3). However, Roma’s frustrating four-match winless run on hostile turf (D1, L3) should serve to keep the visitors’ feet firmly on the ground, especially considering they conceded precisely twice in two of those games.