Roma v Barcelona - Preview and possible lineups

Roma:

The home side have received a big boost with the return of Radja Nainggolan, who missed the game at the Camp Nou through injury. The midfielder is a key part of this Roma side, having provided 8 assists this season, and his recovery from the thigh injury that kept him out of the first leg is good news for the home side.

Cengiz Under is another player named in the squad who missed the first leg with injury problems.The Turkish winger is not certain to start, but his inclusion in the squad is a positive sign. Meanwhile Diego Perotti remains sidelined, and Rick Karsdorp is a long-term absentee. 

Barcelona:

Sergio Busquets is a doubt for Tuesday's game, after suffering a setback in his recovery from a foot problem. The Spaniard is in contention to play, but is not likely to be risked. 

Lucas Digne and Sergi Samper are also both sidelined with respective injury problems, while Phillipe Coutinho is ineligible to play due to his involvement in Liverpool's Champions League campaign earlier this season.

It remains to be seen whether Valverde chooses to rest any of his key players, given the three goal cushion that his side accumulated in the first leg.

Roma boss Eusebio Di Francesco:

 The Italian coach called for belief from his players, as they face the daunting task of overturning a three goal deficit. "It’s important and we must believe," he said. "Let’s perform with great heart and passion. We have to honour and respect our club colours, so we’ll give it our all and we deserve the chance to achieve something huge.

"Why not believe until the end and hope we can achieve something unprecedented? We’re trailing by three goals, so it’s a really tough ask, but we have the duty to try. So, our best team will start tomorrow and then we’ll think about the derby.”

Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde:

Valverde urged his players to ignore their advantage and play the game as if the score was level. "The tie is still to be decided," he stated. "We have a favourable score but we have to play as if it was 0-0. Roma will have to take risks and we will have to be strong to get through"

He also made it clear that they weren't taking anything for granted. "I've spent enough time in football to know that extraordinary things can happen," he said. 

"History tells us that, at this level, it's difficult to score against us, but we can't think that they aren't going to have options and they aren't going to use them against us. A mistake, overconfidence, they could all cost us when we are this deep in the competition,"

Did you know?

Roma are unbeaten at home in Champions League this season, and have yet to concede a goal at Stadio Olimpico in the competition in this period. However, Barcelona have pedigree in the tournament, and have been in the semi-finals for six of the last eight seasons. Roma meanwhile have never made it to a Champions League semi.

Form:

Possible lineups:

Roma: Alisson; Kolarov, Federico Fazio, Manolas, Florenzi; Strootman, Rossi, Pellegrini, Nainggolan, Under; Dzeko

Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Alba, Umtiti, Pique, Semedo; Iniesta, Rakitic, Paulinho, Roberto; Messi, Suarez.