Head-2-Head: Fazio and Burdisso square off at the Marassi

Ahead of Sunday's match between Genoa and Roma at the Marassi, we asked Lorenzo Celsi to profile two of the clubs' respective defensive linchpins, Nicolas Burdisso and Federico Fazio...

THE EARLY YEARS

Federico Fazio was born on 17 March 1987 in Ramos Mejia, in the province of Buenos Aires. He made his professional debut in the Argentine second division in 2005, aged 18, for Ferro Carril Oeste. Two years and 48 appearances later, Sevilla snapped up his services for a fee of €800,000 in January 2007.

After a brief spell with Sevilla's B team he made his senior debut under Manolo Jimenez. He was an ever-present for Argentina as they won the U20 World Cup in 2007 and picked up a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Nicolas Burdisso was born in Altos de Chipion in Cordoba province on 12 April 1981. He came through the youth ranks at Boca Juniors and was a member of Carlos Bianchi's highly successful side of the early noughties, becoming a first-team regular after Walter Samuel left to join Roma in 2000.

Burdisso went on to make 164 appearances for Boca, winning two Argentine championships, three Copa Libertadores titles and two Intercontinental Cups, before signing for Inter in 2004.

CAREER

Fazio spent seven seasons at Sevilla, eventually becoming captain. During his time in Andalusia he lifted a Copa del Rey, a Spanish Super Cup and two Europa Leagues – having joined the club in 2006/07, the year Sevilla claimed the second of their five UEFA Cup/Europa League crowns – so he's certainly no stranger to success.

Tottenham bought Fazio for a fee of around €10 million in 2014 and he featured 30 times for the Premier League outfit in his debut campaign. However, after experiencing some injury problems in his second year in England he returned to Sevilla on loan for the second half of the 2015-16 season.

Soon after Burdisso's move to Inter, his daughter Angelina was diagnosed with leukaemia and he went back to Argentina to be close to her during treatment. He missed the best part of his first season but returned to Italy following his daughter's recovery and enjoyed further success with the Nerazzurri, playing his part in two Coppa Italia triumphs, two Italian Super Cup trophies and four Serie A titles.

He joined Claudio Ranieri's Roma on loan in August 2009 and remained in the capital for four and a half seasons, during which time he came within a whisker of winning Serie A (2009-10), suffered a serious knee injury (2011-12) and endeared himself to the Giallorossi fans with his motto 'You play as you live'.

THE PRESENT

Fazio flew in to Fiumicino in early August in 2016 bringing with him a wealth of experience. A reliable, consistent defender who has already made 22 appearances for the Giallorossi, with his imposing 6'4" frame he excels in the air, winning 70% of aerial duels. But he's got a whole lot more in his locker, including an excellent sense of positioning and the ability to build play from the back.

“We've been doing well in defence but it's not just down to the individual players – we're tighter as a team,” he told Roma TV in a recent interview.

Burdisso made the switch to Genoa in January 2014 and was made captain the following season, but regardless of the armband he has proven himself as a natural leader under both Gian Piero Gasperini and Ivan Juric.

Commenting on Genoa's 2015-16 campaign, which has seen them lose just once at home, he told Rai Sport: “At this stage I'd give our season a 6.5/10 because we're exceeding expectations. We had an excellent start then ran into a few difficulties.”

The two players know each other from international duty, albeit a few years ago now.

"We played in the same position," Fazio recalled. "I was young at the time whereas he had loads of experience and he helped me. He's a great guy.”

On Sunday, however, the catch-up will have to wait until after the final whistle.