Europa League R16 official line-ups: Bologna vs. Roma

Skip to contentNAPLES, ITALY – FEBRUARY 15: Donyell Malen of AS Roma celebrates after scoring his side second goal during the Serie A match between SSC Napoli and AS Roma at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on February 15, 2026 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)

Roma hope Donyell Malen and Bryan Zaragoza can inspire them to Europa League success in the all-Italian derby with Bologna’s Federico Bernardeschi and Santiago Castro.

It kicks off at the Stadio Dall’Ara at 17.45 GMT (18.45 CET).

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from this game and Fiorentina vs. Rakow on the Liveblog.

The second leg is at the Stadio Olimpico next Thursday, as it means there will be just one Italian entry into the Europa League quarter-finals.

Roma went directly into the Round of 16 as one of the top eight in the league phase, but are decimated in attack by injuries to Paulo Dybala, Matias Soulé, Artem Dovbyk and Evan Ferguson.

Gianluca Mancini also sits out a ban in defence, with Manu Koné and Mario Hermoso carrying knocks.

January signings Malen and Zaragoza finally get to play in the Europa League, as they were cup-tied for the last couple of league phase matches, with Bryan Cristante and Niccolò Pisilli providing support from midfield.

There is temptation to focus on the upcoming showdown with Como for fourth place in Serie A, coming off a 3-3 draw with Juventus and 2-1 defeat at Genoa.

Bologna have almost a complete squad to deal with after eliminating SK Brann in the play-offs, though Juan Miranda, Torbjorn Heggem and Charalampos Lykogiannis are not at 100 per cent.

Castro keeps hold of the centre-forward role, flanked by Jonathan Rowe and Federico Bernardeschi.

Tommaso Pobega also gets the nod in midfield.

The Rossoblu have had a very odd 2026, as after a crisis run of poor results, they put together five consecutive victories in all competition.

That was halted at the weekend with a shock 2-1 home defeat to rock bottom Hellas Verona in Serie A.

Bologna vs. Roma official line-ups

Bologna: Skorupski; Joao Mario, Casale, Lucumi, Miranda; Freuler, Pobega; Bernardeschi, Ferguson, Rowe; Castro

Bologna bench: Ravaglia, Moro, Orsolini, Heggem, Zortea, Odgaard, Lykogiannis, Sohm, Dallinga, Cambiaghi, Dominguez, Vitik

Roma: Svilar; Celik, Ndicka, Ghilardi; Rensch, El Aynaoui, Pisilli, Wesley; Cristante; Zaragoza, Malen

Roma bench: De Marzi, Gollini, Pellegrini, Tsimikas, Koné, Hermoso, Ziolkowski, Vaz, El Shaarawy

Ref: Jablonski (GER)

12-03-2026 17:45

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Renato Dall’Ara StadiumBolognaRomavs

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BySusy Campanale

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