Roma-Athletic Club: the first day's challenge is repeated, lineups and TV times

Rome 5 March 2025 - A few months ago this challenge was the opening episode of the competition, this time you can't make any mistakes. If you want to continue chasing the cup, to consider theEuropa League an obtainable trophy, the Roma must survive theAthletic Club of Bilbao, the Giallorossi must overcome the Basque phenomena. On one side one of the most in-form teams in Europe in the Capitoline, on the other one of the favourites to win the final: second in the championship phase and potentially host team of the final. This and much more is the challenge tomorrow, Thursday 6 March 2025, between the two teams mentioned above, the first leg of the round of XNUMX of Europa League. The first episode of this double challenge, scheduled for the Stadio Olimpico with kick-off at 21. 

On the first day of Europa League fate decided that this race would raise the curtain on the European season of Roma e Athletic Club, a direct clash scheduled at the Olimpico from which Ranieri can certainly take inspiration from tomorrow's match. The Roma has changed a lot since then: Juric was on the bench and the form was anything but enviable. One constant, however, has remained: the Giallorossi have always been very difficult to beat at the Olimpico and despite everything, this theory was confirmed in the first leg too. The Capitoline team at the time stopped at 1-1 against the Basques, with the advantage of dovbyk, reached by the header of Paredes in the last five minutes of the match. At that time, this team lacked confidence and solidity, qualities that it acquired under Claudio's guidance Ranieri, as witnessed by Porto's elimination in the play-offs and the top-flight pace maintained so far in the second half of the season. Serie A. Now comes an even more challenging test, as will be this double confrontation with the Basques, the feat is not impossible, but the best will be needed Roma possible to succeed in the enterprise.

The challenge from home though Bilbao has already been launched. There has been no shortage of skirmishes and if at home the Giallorossi Angelino he didn't want to reveal himself in the press conference, speaking of a mind completely focused on the match. Nick Williams for the 'Athletic Bilbao Instead he did not mince his words, speaking of a Roma strong, but also how it will be the red and whites who will advance to the next round. Strong proclamations from a player who is used to winning. He and his brother Iñaki are some of the reasons behind the Basque club's return to success in their homeland, with the Copa del Rey of last summer against the Mallorca in the final. Not only that, Nico himself was one of the key players in the Spain di From La Fuente, winning at Euro 2024The idea at Athletic is to make headway in this Europa League to celebrate the first continental success in a tournament whose final will be played in San Mames, the home stadium of the "Zurigorriak". However, moving from words to deeds is a completely different task and winning at the Olimpico will not be an easy feat, for this reason Valverde He cannot allow his players any distractions.

The designation of the Uefa for the first leg of this round of 16 between Roma e Athletic Club of Bilbao he decided that the Swiss will direct the race Sandro Schärer. The Swiss referee will be assisted by his compatriots, Stéphane De Almeida and Jonas Erni, with the fourth official also coming from Switzerland, namely Lionel Tschudi. There will also be a Swiss in the VAR room, namely Fedayi San, assisted however by a German, namely Bastian Dankert. A referee born in Schubelbach in 88, for Schärer this will be his 22nd refereeing of the season. A year in which he has taken part in many competitions: for him 8 referees in Swiss Super League, 8 more between UEFA Champions, Europe and Nations League, in addition to having directed the UEFA Super Cup between Atalanta e Real Madrid. To these matches he adds one more Swiss Cup, 1 in the Swiss Serie B and also two in Arab countries between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Three encounters for him with Italian teams this season, with two defeats at club level, but also the 1-3 of the Italian national team against France. Specifically, however, only one precedent with the Giallorossi for the match director, who is also very curious in terms of fate: it was theEuropa League 22-23, it was still the round of 16 and the opponents were still Basque, that is, the Real Sociedad, then the Capitoline team won 2-0. Absolute debut instead for Schärer against theAthletic Club of Bilbao.

Probable lineups

All recovered at home for the Giallorossi, with Steel currently favored over Hummels to be one of the three in defense, with Mancini e N'Dicka to complete the department in front of Silker. Crystalline replaces the suspended Paredes in a three-man midfield with Koné e pisilli. Saelemaekers outside right and Angelino on the left, while El Shaarawy and Pellegrini could be weapons during the match. In attack, the offensive duo will most likely be composed of Dybala e dovbyk, Ukrainian ahead of Shomurodov, given the caution used against Como to allow him to recover his best physical condition.

Athletic Bilbao led in attack by the brothers Williams: Iñaki to the right, Nico on the left next to Berenguer to make up the three-quarter line. It is difficult to see Sancet as a starter, in attack there will be guruzeta to lead the red and whites. Between the posts, the certainty is Unai Simon, returned after the physical problems at the beginning of the year, with Gorosabel, Vivian, Yeray e Yuri to compose the back line. The tempo in the meidana will be dictated by Galarreta Ruiz e jauregize.

Roma (3-5-2) Svilar; Çelik, Mancini, Ndicka; Saelemaekers, Koné, Cristante, Pisilli, Angeliño; Dybala, Dovbyk. Coach Claudio Ranieri.

Athletic Bilbao (4-2-3-1) Unai Simon; Gorosabel, Vivian, Yeray, Yuri; Ruiz de Galarreta, Jauregizar; Iñaki Williams, Berenguer, Nico Williams; Guruzeta. Coach Ernesto Valverde.

Where to watch the match

The match between Roma e Athletic Club of Bilbao of the Olympic Stadium, valid for the first leg of the round of 16 of the knockout phase of Europa League, will start at 21pm on Thursday 6 March 2025. There will be several options available to watch the match. The match will be visible on satellite on the platform Sky, to the channels Sky Sports One (channel 201) and Sky Sport channel 252. The match will also be available in streaming on NOW for those who have subscribed to the platform and on Sky Go for those who have a Sky subscription. You can follow the match by downloading the app on your smart TV or by connecting the television to a PlayStation 4/5 console, Xbox, or to a TIMVISION BOX, to an Amazon Fire TV Stick or Google Chromecast device. Viewing is also possible via the app or website NOW on tablets, PCs and smartphones. The commentary of the challenge will be entrusted to Riccardo Gentile and Aldo Serena.