With Lukaku in the XI, AS Roma start their UEFA Europa League journey vs FC Sheriff

In recent years AS Roma got used to compete for international titles. The arrival of Jose Mourinho as a coach was great news for the Italian side, who since then won the UEFA Conference League in 2022 and reached the final of the UEFA Europa League against Sevilla in the last season, where they lost on penalties.

Now they will have the chance to try once again. This Thursday they will start their way in the second most important tournament in Europe, when they face FC Sheriff from Moldova. Both teams are part of Group G, which also includes Slavia Prague from Czech Republic and Servette from Switzerland.

AS Roma have a much higher level than their three rivals and should have no problems to qualify to the next stage, but coach José Mourinho knows that they cannot relax and that every match will be a new challenge. That is why he decided to use most of the stars of the team in Thursday's opener at the Stadionul Sheriff in Tiraspol.

The Italian side's starting lineup will be: Mile Svilar; Diego Llorente, Gianluca Mancini, Evan Ndicka; Rick Karsrdorp, Bryan Cristante, Renato Sanches, Houssem Aouar; Stephan El Shaarawy, Romelu Lukaku, Nicola Zalewski. The substitutes will be Rui Patricio, Mehmet Celik, Leonardo Spinazzola, Edoardo Bove, Riccardo Pagano, Mannini, Niccoló Pisilli, D’Alessio, Leandro Paredes, Andrea Belotti y Paulo Dybala.

They want to do it again

FC Sheriff won their place in the UEFA Europa League after winning the title in the Moldovan league last season. They are a team used to compete in international tournaments and in 2021 they surprised everyone by defeating Real Madrid 2-1 at Santiago Bernabeu stadium for the Champions League 2021/22. Now they will try to do the same against AS Roma. Coach Roberto Bordin chose this XI: Maksym Koval; Armel Zohouri, Munashe Garananga, Cristian Tovar, Alejandro Artunduaga; Joao Paulo, Gaby Kiki, Peter Ademo; David Ankeye, Amine Talal, Jerome Ngom Mbekeli.