Roma vs Athletic Bilbao – Prediction, Team News, Line-ups – Serie A News

Roma will welcome Athletic Bilbao to the Stadio Olimpico on Thursday to play out the first-leg of an enticing Europa League round of16 tie.

The two sides last met each other at the same venue in the league phase in September, when they settled for a 1-1 draw.

Match Preview

Roma has seen a revival in their fortunes since Claudio Ranieri took over as manager in November.

The Giallorossi are back into the mix for European qualification after remaining unbeaten in the Serie A in 2025.

They will be coming off an excellent 2-1 home victory over Como at the weekend.

Lucas Da Cunha put the visitors ahead on the stroke of half-time, but Roma struck back through goals from Alexis Saelemaekers and Artem Dovbyk to wrap up a brilliant comeback win. The result leaves them eighth in the league standings, with four points behind sixth-placed Bologna.

Meanwhile, Athletic are also enjoying a good run of form at the moment. The Basque side lost 1-0 to La Liga title contenders Atletico Madrid in their previous league outing, but they recently thrashed Girona 3-0 and put seven past Real Valladolid in a one-sided game.

Ernesto Valverde’s side are on track to qualify for the Champions League, as they are sitting fourth in the table with four points ahead of fifth-placed Villarreal.

Team News

Roma will not be able to call upon the services of Leandro Paredes as he will serving his suspension on Thursday. Therefore, Ranieri will likely feature Bryan Cristante in midfield.

As for Athletic, Alvaro Djalo is sidelined with an ankle issue. But Oihan Sancet is expected to be involved after passing a fitness test.

Roma vs Athletic Bilbao potential line-ups

Roma: Svilar; Celik, Mancini, Ndicka; Saelemaekers, Kone, Cristante, Angelino; Dybala, Pellegrini; Dovbyk
Athletic Bilbao: Simon; De Marcos, Vivian, Paredes, Yuri; Jauregizar, Vesga; I. Williams, Gomez, N. Williams; Sannadi

How to Watch?

Fans of the Europa League can watch the game between Roma and Athletic Bilbao via football streams.

Roma vs Athletic Bilbao prediction

Roma look to be the favourites on Thursday as they are enjoying an excellent run of form and will be playing in front of their home crowd. But Athletic are also a force to be reckoned with and are expected to provide a tough competition.
We believe the result will be a low scoring draw.

Roma 1-1 Athletic Bilbao