Francesco Totti
AS Roma captain Francesco Totti will hope to lead his team to the knockout stages of the Champions League Getty

Manuel Pellegrini's men travel to the Stadio Olimpico to take on AS Roma in the Group E Champions League clash on Wednesday evening.

Where to watch

Kick-off is set for 7:45pm BST. Live coverage is on Sky Sports 5 and Sky Sports 5 HD. Live radio coverage is available on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Overview

This clash between AS Roma and Manchester City is a must win clash for both teams, a win for either team will see them go through to the knockout phase of the competition with no relevance to the other fixture in the group between Bayern Munich and CSKA Moscow.

However, if CSKA win and Manchester City lose to the Serie A club, then the English team will not make it to the Europa League. On the other hand, if City manage a draw and the Russian club loses to the Bavarian giants, it will knock Roma out and the English champions will move to the next round.

This group has seen all teams, apart from Bayern Munich, struggle to get wins under their belt. Bayern are currently guaranteed top spot with 12 points and the other three teams are on five points. In any other group, a team with five points would have already been knocked out of the competition.

AS Roma could have had one leg in the next round, had they not conceded an injury time equaliser on match day 5 against CSKA Moscow. The Italian side have a good record against English sides, as they have won five of their last seven meetings at home to teams from England.

Sergio Aguero
Sergio Aguero damaged his knee ligaments in Manchester City's win over Everton on Sunday, ruling him out of the crucial clash against Roma in the Champions League Getty Images

Meanwhile, Manchester City gave themselves a chance of qualifying for the next phase by pulling off a shock win over German champions Bayern at the Etihad Stadium on match day 5.

It was Sergio Aguero's hattrick that took them to victory on the night, but in a bitter blow for the Cityzens, they will be missing their star forward in Italy, as he has been ruled out for over a month with knee ligament injury.

However, Manuel Pellegrini will be boosted by the return of captin Vincent Kompany and strikers Edin Dzeko and Steven Jovetic, who are all fit to play a part in the crucial encounter.

What managers say

Rudi Garcia: "In normal circumstances, we would be out [with five points from five games], but we are here to get a historic result. Like I said before the CSKA match, we have to enjoy the game and do the best we can. It would be amazing if we won. We want to go through."

Manuel Pellegrini: "It will be a very important evening. Reaching the round of 16 is very important for the club. In this competition we have made many mistakes, especially in Moscow, and tomorrow we want to show what we can do because we want to play in the round of 16. We have good players and if we can beat Bayern, we can beat anybody."

Betting Odds (888Sport.com)

  • Roma to win: 7/5
  • Draw: 28/11
  • Manchester City to win: 23/12

Team News

AS Roma

  • Injured: Castán (head), Torosidis (calf)
  • Doubtful: Skorupski (thigh)
  • Suspended: N/A

Possible XI: De Sanctis; Maicon, Astori, Manolas, Holebas; Pjanić, Keita, Nainggolan; Gervinho, Totti, Ljajić.

Manchester City

  • Injured: Nastasić (thigh), Agüero (knee)
  • Doubtful: Silva (knee)
  • Suspended: Touré

Possible XI: Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Mangala, Clichy; Fernando, Fernandinho; Milner, Jovetić, Nasri; Dzeko.

Champions League Manchester City FC