In terms of the two names, this clash is undoubtedly the most tantalising out of all the Champions League playoff matches. The second prize of a Europa League group stage place will be seen as abject failure by both sets of fans so the pressure is really on to come out on top in this tie.
Porto finished a disappointing third last season meaning they have to come through the qualification process if they want to join their compatriots Benfica and Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League group stage.
There has not been much movement at Porto this summer, although centre-back Maicon has moved back to his native Brazil in a €6m move. They have replaced him with fellow Brazilian Felipe who signs from Corinthians whilst another Brazilian (left back Alex Telles) joins from Galatasaray.
This will arguably be the toughest match of young manager Nuno Espírito Santo’s career. He joined Porto this summer after being out of football since last November when he resigned from Valencia. The former goalkeeper does not have much big game experience so It will be interesting to see how he handles the pressure in front of a tense home crowd at Estádio do Dragão.
After a disappointing few years, AS Roma have finally gone back towards the top of Italian football with two consecutive second place finishes in Serie A. Eight months ago, Luciano Spalletti was reappointed to the role he left back in September 2009 and things have so far gone well for the former Zenit St. Petersburg manager.
In terms of transfers this summer, Roma have turned Mohamed Salah, Edin Dzeko and Stephan El Shaarawy’s successful loan spells into permanent transfer. This is fantastic business by the club as they know that none of these signings will fail to adapt to life in Rome. Additionally, they have signed incredibly highly rated young Brazilian Gerson from Fluminense.
Despite these excellent in-comings, they will definitely mourn the loss of Bosnian midfielder Miralem Pjanic to Serie A rivals Juventus. Having said that they do still have Daniele De Rossi, Radja Nainggolan and Kevin Strootman in midfield – not a bad selection by any means.
The bookmakers make Porto the favourites for this game but I struggle to agree with this.
I think Spalletti’s experience of big Champions League games will make sure he comes out on top against his more novice opponent whilst the Italians also have the better squad.
In perhaps a more daring move, I would also go for Roma to win to nil. They had the second best defensive record in Serie A last season (only Juventus fared better) and I do not think the Porto front-line is capable of causing this solid Roma back-line too many problems.
These two bets come in at 12/5 and 9/2 which is exceptional value for punters.
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