Daniele De Rossi thanks Roma for the ‘gigantic show of faith’ as his contract was extended before the Europa League quarter-final with Milan. ‘It means we do not depend on this match.’
It kicks off at the Stadio Olimpico at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT).
You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from this game, Fiorentina-Viktoria Plzen and Atalanta-Liverpool on the LIVEBLOG.
The Giallorossi won the first leg 1-0 thanks to a Gianluca Mancini header at San Siro, so as long as they avoid defeat here, they will go through to the semi-finals.
To celebrate the turnaround since he took over from Jose Mourinho, it was announced today that Roma have extended De Rossi’s contract to next season.
“This means that whatever happens, I will still be the coach of Roma,” he told Sky Sport Italia.
“The hidden meaning is that we do not depend entirely on this match, even if it is extremely important. The decision to do it before such an important game was a gigantic show of faith and I am honoured,” De Rossi told Sky Sport Italia.
“However, my mind was only on the Milan game, so I didn’t get to enjoy it too much.”
Bryan Cristante is suspended, Dean Huijsen ineligible for the Europa League and Evan Ndicka resting after a collapsed lung saw Roma’s Serie A match against Udinese suspended at the 72nd minute.
“The philosophy of the players should be what we want from Roma in general, that we want to control the initiative. There will be moments when Milan attack, as they are a magnificent team, but we have this small advantage from the first leg and it must be just one more positive element we feel.”
Stefano Pioli has pulled a surprise by picking Yunus Musah and Ismael Bennacer in midfield, leaving Tijjani Reijnders on the bench.
“Milan have a formidable left flank, perhaps their strongest area, but they have good players all over the field. Perhaps Musah would be on the right, or him central and Pulisic wider, we’ll see what my colleague decides, replied De Rossi.
“It’s fascinating doing this work, but we have to be wary of the entire Milan squad and not just one flank.”
More must-reads: