Soccer

Roma vs. Shakhtar Donetsk 2018 live stream: Time, TV schedule, and how to watch Champions League online

Roma have a lot of work to do to make the quarterfinal round.

Updated Mar 13, 2018, 10:47 PM UTC

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Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images

AS Roma had high hopes coming into their Champions League Round of 16 tie with Shakhtar Donetsk, but after a 2-1 loss in the first leg, the Italians find themselves needing a strong performance at home if they’re going to come back and win the tie.

Fortunately for them, they’ve been in good form since that loss. They shocked then-first place Napoli with a 4-2 win in Naples — no easy feat this season with how on a roll Napoli have been — then came back to the Stadio Olimpico and rolled over Torino, 3-0. Key to this surge has been a much stronger presence up top from Edin Dzeko, coupled with stronger supporting play from central midfield. We’ve finally seen a glimpse of just how good this Roma side can be this last couple of weeks — something Roma fans have been waiting all season for.

But Shakhtar aren’t going to be scared by Roma’s form improving. They’ve rolled off three consecutive wins of their own since their last meeting by a combined score of 11-0. Their impressive midfield and hungry attack have been in fine form, and they’re going to come out playing fast and aggressively looking to disrupt Roma’s buildup play once more and find an away goal to put even more pressure on the Italians.

The one major advantage Roma have coming into this match is the fact they scored an away goal of their own in the first leg. That coupled with Shakhtar’s narrow one-goal lead means if Roma can score once and then hold on, a 2-2 aggregate scoreline will be enough to get them through. It wouldn’t be pretty, but throughout Roma’s history they’ve been willing to eschew attractive play for successful play. The concern is whether or not their defense is up to the task — Facundo Ferreyra, Bernard, and Taison beat Roma’s back line with startling regularity, and they’re going to have to come up with a much more effective defensive gameplan if they’re going to win this match.