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AS Roma will host AC Milan at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome for the second leg of the Europa League quarterfinals on Thursday. Daniele De Rossi's side managed to win the first leg 1-0 away at San Siro last week thanks to the goal scored by defender Gianluca Mancini in the first half and Stefano Pioli's AC Milan need to complete a comeback in the second tie to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. Here's what you need to know: 

How to watch and odds

  • Date: Thursday, April 18 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
  • Location: Stadio Olimpico -- Rome, Italy
  • Live stream: Paramount+
  • Odds: AS Roma +190; Draw +160; AC Milan +155

What happened in the first leg?

Roma return to the Stadio Olimpico for the second leg of their UEFA Europa League quarterfinal with AC Milan holding a slender advantage following a 1-0 away victory at San Siro on April 11 thanks to a 17th-minute Mancini goal. The first leg was the first time the two sides had met in UEFA competition. Milan's overall record against Roma in all competitions in 198 matches is 84 wins, 62 draws, and 52 defeats. The Giallorossi's victory in the first leg was just their second in their last 14 matches against Milan, the other a 2-1 Serie A home success in October 2019.

How they got here

AS Roma: Roma qualified for the 2023-24 Europa League group stage having finished sixth in Serie A last season. This season they won four of their group matches, including all three at home without conceding: 4-0 against Servette, 2-0 versus Slavia Praha and 3-0 on Matchday 6 against Sheriff. However, they lost 2-0 in Prague on Matchday 4 and could only draw 1-1 at Servette in their next game, leaving them in second place behind Slavia in Group G. They took on Feyenoord in their knockout round playoff, winning 4-2 on penalties following a 2-2 draw on aggregate. That brought them to a round of 16 tie against English debutants Brighton who they comfortably beat 4-1 on aggregate. Roma have lost only one of their last 31 home UEFA competition matches and replaced Jose Mourinho as manager with former player De Rossi on Jan. 16.

AC Milan: Stefano Pioli's side failed to win their first three games in this season's Champions League group stage, drawing 0-0 at home to Newcastle and in Dortmund before the 3-0 loss in Paris. They started their campaign with a 2-1 home defeat to the French club only to lose 3-1 to Dortmund at San Siro, although a 2-1 comeback victory in England on Matchday 6 secured them a third-place finish. That led them to a Europa League knockout round playoff tie against French club Rennes. A 3-0 home first-leg win was followed by a 3-2 away defeat which was enough for a 5-3 aggregate victory. This is Milan's fifth UEFA Cup/Europa League quarterfinal, having progressed from two of their previous four, including the last in 2001-02 when they overcame Israeli side Hapoel Tel Aviv. 

Team news

AS Roma: De Rossi will deal with the absence of midfielder Bryan Cristante, who is suspended and will miss the second leg, with Edoardo Bove set to start alongside Leandro Paredes and captain Lorenzo Pellegrini in the midfield. Stephan El Shaarawy will complete the attacking line, which will definitely include club stars Romelu Lukaku and Paulo Dybala. 

Possible AS Roma XI: Svilar; Celik, Mancini, Smalling, Spinazzola; Bove, Paredes, Pellegrini; El Shaarawy, Lukaku, Dybala.

AC Milan: USMNT star Christian Pulisic is set to play as a No. 10 behind striker Olivier Giroud, with both Rafael Leao and Samuel Chukwueze playing on the wings. Davide Calabria and Theo Hernandez will play as full-backs, while goalkeeper Mike Maignan is due to make his comeback after a minor injury that forced him to miss last weekend's clash against Sassuolo. 

Possible AC Milan XI: Maignan; Calabria, Tomori, Gabbia, Theo Hernandez; Reijnders, Loftus-Cheek; Chukwueze, Pulisic, Leao; Giroud.

Prediction

Despite the importance of the second leg, the game should not be an open one. Roma will definitely try to defend their small advantage. Pick: AS Roma 1, AC Milan 1.