With Roma defending their 2-1 first leg lead in the Europa League quarter final against Ajax at the Stadio Olimpico this Thursday (kick-off: 21:00 CEST), we have all the pre-match preamble you need.

AJAX

League position: 1st in Eredivisie
Head coach: Erik ten Hag
European top-scorer: Dusan Tadic (5)

RECENT FORM

Roma: W L D W W
Ajax: W W W L W

The Giallorossi ended a three-game winless run in Serie A by taking all three points from Bologna at the weekend, handing them much needed back-to-back victories that keep alive their European hopes for this season and next.

Their superb late victory in Amsterdam means Roma have bagged five wins from five in the UEL knockouts thus far and won nine of their 11 European fixtures in 2020-21 (W9, D1, L1).

The first leg defeat to Roma ended Ajax's 24-game run without a loss (W21, D3) since Atalanta edged the Dutch side 1-0 in the Champions League, meaning their two most recent defeats have both come against Italian opposition.

Ten Hag’s side did get back to winning ways domestically at least courtesy of a 1-0 victory over RKC Waalwijk, which was their fifth win on the bounce away from home.

DANGER MAN
Dusan Tadic

He may have missed a crucial penalty in the first leg, but Tadic is still Ajax’s talisman and the visitors will look to their Serbian schemer for inspiration as they go in search of goals in the Italian capital.

Tadic is again expected to lead the line at the Olimpico, hoping to add to his two Champions League and three Europa League goals the 32-year-old has already bagged this term.

A whopping 22 goals and 21 assists from 43 appearances in all competitions shows just how potent Tadic has been in 2020-21 thus far and you feel he will need to improve that stunning record even further if Ajax are to progress.

Roma will, however, take encouragement not only from his miss from 12-yards in the first leg, but also the fact that Tadic drew a blank in the league last weekend, albeit it was his cross that supplied Sebastien Haller’s only goal of the game against Waalwijk.

MATCH STATS

This will be the fourth official meeting between these two sides, with Roma claiming victory for the first time in the reverse last week.

Roma are unbeaten at home in this year's Europa League (W4, D1) and have conceded just twice as hosts, while scoring 14 times in five games.

The Giallorossi have gone on to progress in each of their last 16 two-legged European ties after taking a lead back to the Olimpico.

Meanwhile, Ajax have overturned first leg deficits in two of their last three knockout matches in Europe, which suggests something has to give on Thursday.

PLAYER STATS

• Edin Dzeko needs just one more goal for his 30th in European competitions as a Roma player.
  
• Borja Mayoral has scored seven times in the UEL in 2020-21 and sits level with Pizzi (Benfica) and Yusuf Yazıcı (Lille) as the tournament’s top-scorers this season.
  
• Roger Ibanez's stunning winner last week was his second goal of the season and second as a Roma player, with both coming in this European campaign.
  
• Maarten Stekelenburg will miss out on playing against his old club through injury, having featured 55 times for Roma between 2011 and 2013.

WHAT THEY SAID

“If we reach the same level as we did [in the first leg], we have a chance to win the tie. But we are 2-1 behind, so it’s not easy to turn that around.”

- Ajax coach Erik ten Hag