Roma vs. Athletic Bilbao: Match Preview, Odds & Prediction

On Thursday night, Roma will kick off their Europa League campaign with a match against Athletic Bilbao, hoping to make a triumphant comeback to the European scene.

The first UEFA tournament match between the clubs will occur at Stadio Olimpico. The hosts have just changed managers, while the Basque visitors are riding high.

Previous Matches and Head-to-head

Before the club legend could launch an attack on advancing further in this season's Europa League, Roma's board recently ousted previous leader Daniele De Rossi. The team had just three points after four Serie A matches.

His sluggish start this year lost him his job, and Croatian coach Ivan Juric was hired promptly. He took over from Jose Mourinho and guided the Giallorossi to the semi-finals, where Bayer Leverkusen beat them out.

Roma defeated in-form Udinese 3-0 in their most recent match, with goals from Artem Dovbyk, Tommaso Baldanzi, and Paulo Dybala, while dealing with crowd protests at Stadio Olimpico.

Juric will strive to guide his club to victory on the first matchday of UEFA's revamped Europa League, where each team faces eight opponents over the league phase after they made a good start under challenging conditions.

The Giallorossi have an excellent record in Europe's second-tier event as of late, and they won the inaugural Conference League championship a little over two years ago when Mourinho was in charge.

Roma have won half of their previous 18 Europa League matches and lost just three. They were perfect at home last season, losing just once in seven games.

But coming into Thursday's match, the capital club will enter having won only once in their previous eight games against Spanish teams, with the Athletic Club being the tenth.

Even though Roma are mainstays in UEFA tournaments, Athletic haven't been seen on the European scene since 2018—when they were eliminated in the Europa League quarterfinals by Marseille.

After losing their last three games of that season, the Bilbao team is determined to avoid making history by winning all four of their next European matches.

After sweeping La Liga in the second half of September, Ernesto Valverde's squad will look to extend their winning streak to four games with a win in Rome. They will be confident in avoiding that destiny and bringing home the win.

Gorka Guruzeta scored twice in the first half, and Alvaro Djalo scored his first goal for Athletic in a Spanish football match last week, helping Athletic to score 3–1 against Celta Vigo.

Following last season's fifth-place league finish and Copa del Rey victory, the Basque club is aiming even higher this season, with former Barcelona manager Valverde also seeking a deep run in Europe.

On Thursday, Athletic Club will have the chance to start their Europa League campaign on the right foot after winning only once in nine prior visits to Italy (the last being in 1997).

Roma x Athletic Bilbao Team News

Roma captain Lorenzo Pellegrini is unavailable to play on Thursday, which might force Ivan Juric to make a substitution. However, he is allowed to make substitutions in between league matches anyhow.

Along with Alexis Saelemaekers and Enzo Le Fee, the Italy midfielder might be out for Sunday's Serie A match against Venezia after limping out against Udinese with a knee injury. Le Fee is hoping to return for the game.

Now that he has scored in consecutive matches for the Giallorossi, Artem Dovbyk, a Ukrainian striker, meets Girona, one of the few La Liga teams he did not score against during his fantastic 2023-24 season.

As for Athletic Club's key player, Nico Williams will miss their trip to Italy after spraining his ankle in their last match against Leganes. Williams was named the Euro 2024 champion.

Also injured are Yeray Alvarez and first-choice goalkeeper Unai Simon; Julen Agirrezabala has been filling in well for Simon.

Inaki Williams is set to take charge in his brother's absence; Alvaro Djalo, Alex Berenguer, and Oihan Sancet are all vying for a spot in the final third; Gorka Guruzeta is slated to start up front.

Our Predictions

Full-Time Draw @ 3.30 on Sky247.ng

Now that Ivan Juric is leading Roma, the home side should be more difficult to conquer, so Athletic Club's search for a victory on the Italian peninsula may continue.

With far softer events on either side next month, both clubs would most likely settle for a point from one of their harder league-phase games.

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