Champions League 
/ Tobias Gourlay / 07 March 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Broken wings: can Vincenzo Montella help Roma fly again?
"Roma last kept a clean sheet away from home in Europe four years and 13 games ago"
Tobias Gourlay does not think Vincenzo Montella can stop Roma's season crash-landing in Donetsk on Tuesday night.
Roma's 3-2 defeat to Mircea Lucescu's Shakhtar Donetsk in the first leg of this tie encouraged Claudio Ranieri's resignation and might well cost the Italian club its place in the quarter finals. Shakhtar are [1.15] favourites to go through.
Ranieri has been replaced by Vincenzo Montella, the 'Little Aeroplane' who used to play alongside Francesco Totti in some of Roma's best recent years. For his first-ever European game as a coach, Montella must do without suspended playmaker Jeremy Menez and right-back Marco Cassetti,
Roma's players might have improved their attitude since Ranieri's departure, but the new coach looks set to use a formation not much different from his predecessor's.
Match Odds
Shakhtar are unbeaten in 11 European home games and won each of their three group-stage games at the Donbass Arena in this season's Champions League.
Montella is W2-D1-L0 in Serie A to date, but his squad still lacks players to give the team width. His need to attack might favour the hosts, whose 4-2-3-1 is designed for the counter-attack and worked well two weeks ago.
Under / Over
Roma last kept a clean sheet away from home in Europe four years and 13 games ago. Defending cannot be a priority on Tuesday night because they need to score twice to stand a chance of qualification.
Lucescu claims: "The worst thing is for a team to play boring football. For me, if you are boring you should not play at all." If he is true to his words this week, he will free his wingers from any defensive duties and Over 2,5 Goals will be too long at [1.96].
Both Teams to Score?
Roma have scored in each of the 14 away games they have played since being held to a goalless draw by Parma in October. Exclude a trio of 1-0 defeats in England and the Giallorossi have also scored in 9/10 Champions League away games.
Good attacking record, poor defensive record? It must be Both Teams to Score at [1.8]
Best Bet: Back Over 2.5 Goals at [1.96]
Recommended Bet: Back Both Teams to Score at [1.8]
You can now follow Tobias on Twitter: @tobiasgourlay
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