The UEFA Champions League returns in February, and the Round of 16 would see qualifying teams from the group stage face off in 2 legs to decide which teams progress to the Quarter-final (Round of 8).

Italian giants, AS Roma, will square off with Portuguese champions, F.C Porto.

Both teams face off in a bid to qualify for the next round, and maybe start dreaming about laying their hands on the most prestigious club trophy in Europe; the first leg of this 2-legged fixture is to be played at the Stadio Olimpico, home ground to AS Roma.

Historical Facts About FC Porto (Futebol Club do Porto)

Founded in 1893, in the Portuguese city of Porto, Portugal’s second largest city behind Lisbon. Futebol Club do Porto is the second most successful Portuguese team, having won 76 major trophies, 69 of those being domestic trophies.

From the 1994/1995 season to the 1998/1999 season, Porto won the Portuguese Primera five consecutive times in what is arguably their most successful and dominant spell in the Portuguese league.

Trophies Won

In the 2010/2011 and 2012/2013 seasons, Porto won the Portuguese league without tasting defeat.

In European competitions, Porto is the most successful Portuguese team, winning the European Cup/ UEFA champions league on two occasions on 1987 and 2004; also going on to win the UEFA Cup/Europa Leagues also on two occasions, 2003 and 2011, the Super Cup in 1987 and the Intercontinental cup in 1987 and 2004.

Porto is the only Portuguese club side to have participated and won all European competitions. They are also placed alongside Spanish powerhouses, Barcelona and Real Madrid, for most appearances in the Champions’ League group stages

A full outline of trophies won by FC Porto includes These comprise 28 Primeira Liga titles,16 Taça de Portugal, 4 Campeonato de Portugal, and a record 21 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira.

Biggest Rivalries

Porto’s biggest local rivals are the other two members of the Portuguese “Big Three,” Benfica and Sporting Lisbon; both based in the city of Lisbon.

Club Records 

Radamel Falcao stands as the club’s highest goalscorer in European competitions with 22 goals; and defender, Joao Pinto also holds the record 587 appearances, the most appearances for anyone in Porto colors.

AS Roma (Associazione Sportiva Roma) Historical Facts

Roma was founded in 1927 by a merger of three smaller clubs Fortitudo-Pro Roma SGS, Roman FC, and SS Alba-Audace. This merger was to provide the Italian capital with one strong club to rival the other clubs around Italy; this could also have been a merger of 4 clubs. However, Lazio refused to be a part of the merger.

AS Roma was a club that bloomed early and quickly made a mark in Italian football, finishing the 1930/1931 championship is runners-up behind Turin Club side, Juventus.

Trophies Won

Locally, Roma has won the Serie A three times, 1941/42, 1982/83 and 2000/01; they also boast of 9 Coppa Italia titles and two super coppa Italia titles.

Additionally, in Europe, they have also ended up as runners-up twice; firstly in the 1983–84 European Cup, and then also the 1990–91 UEFA Cup.

Nicknamed I Giallorossi (The Yellow and Reds), La Lupa (The She-Wolf) and La Magica (The Magic One), Roma has participated in every single season of the Italian top-tier footballing competition, except for the 1951/1952 season where they had to participate in the Italian Serie B.

Biggest Rivalries

When it comes to rivalries, Roma has many rivals. One of these rivals is Lazio (Derby Della Capitale), with whom they share the Stadio Olimpico the fiercest. Other rivals include Napoli, (Derby del Sol), meaning the "Derby of the Sun,” Juventus, AC Milan, and Inter Milan.

Club Records

The records for most goals scored in a Roma shirt, and also the most appearances by anyone in a Roma shirt are both held by Roma legend Francesco Totti. He appeared a total of 785 times scoring 307 goals in the course of the 25 seasons spent playing for and never leaving boyhood club, AS Roma.

Rodolfo Volk (1930/1931 season) and Edin Dzeko (2016/2017 season) both hold the record for most goals scored on a single season with 29 goals.

Statistically and historically, the February Champions League fixture seems to have Porto in the lead as Roma has never won a match against them in any European competition. These teams have met a total of four times; two of those ending in stalemates and two ending in favour of the Portuguese Champions Porto.

I Giallorossi has scored just once and has conceded six goals while playing against the Dragões (Dragons). But, this is football and games are not decided using statistics and as it has been proven time and again that history or statistics do not determine a match that is yet to be played.

Team Quality And Coaching Crew Of Both Teams

Both teams are going to be fielding quality teams when they meet up, within their ranks, they parade a couple of top-quality playmakers as well as clinical finishers. Also, an array very strong defenders are on call for both teams.

The players include, Edin Dzeko (Roma), Aleksandar Kolarov (Roma), Maxi Pereira (Porto), Captain Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Captain Héctor Herrera (Porto), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma), Javier Pastore (Roma), Steven N'zonzi (Roma), Robin Olsen (Roma), Iker Casillas (Porto), Chidozie Awaziem (Porto), Jesus Corona (Porto), Federico Fazio (Porto) and Pepe (Porto) among a host of others.

Both teams also parade top quality coaches, both already proven to be technically sound and capable of wreaking havoc on the opposing team from the touchlines. 

Eusebio Di Francesco, former Giallorossi, is AS Roma’s current head coach, assisted by Francesco Tomei, Danilo Perini, and Stefano Romano. On the other hand, Fc Porto has in their ranks Sérgio Conceição, former Portuguese player as a coach and is assisted by Siramana Dembélé and Diamantino Figueiredo, all proving their technical know-how as it's apparent in the successes that both teams have enjoyed under these managers.

Wrapping It Up

The Champions Leagues Round of 16 promises to explode into actions right from the first whistle and this particular matchup at the Stadio Olimpico promises no less.