Roma faced a period of managerial unrest and early - season difficulties. Their Europa League journey began at the Stadio Olimpico in late September with a draw against Athletic Club. Artem Dovbyk put Roma ahead before halftime, but Athletic Club equalized in the closing minutes, foreshadowing a challenging league phase.

With club legend Claudio Ranieri stepping in to restore stability, Roma managed to achieve an outstanding 2 - 0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt on the final matchday of the league phase. This result enabled them to avoid an early elimination and secure a spot in the playoffs.

In the playoffs, after a goalless draw in the away leg against Porto, Ranieri's team triumphed 3 - 2 in the home leg. Paulo Dybala's outstanding double was the highlight of this exciting encounter.

In the last - 16 draw, Roma avoided their city rivals Lazio. Now, they could potentially face either Rangers or a Fenerbahce team coached by their former manager Jose Mourinho in the quarter - finals.

Still unbeaten in Serie A this year, the Giallorossi overcame Como on Sunday evening, with Dovbyk netting the decisive strike in a 2-1 victory and making it 11 league games without defeat.

Seven wins and two draws since the start of January have taken them back into the mix for European qualification - albeit they still trail sixth-placed Bologna by four points.

So, before interim boss Ranieri hands over to a new manager at the end of the season, there is certainly much to play for.

Though they lost 1-0 to La Liga title hopefuls Atletico Madrid last weekend, Athletic are also enjoying an excellent run of form, recently beating Girona 3-0 and thumping seven past Real Valladolid.

Fourth in the table, four points clear of fifth-placed Villarreal, they are on track to qualify for next term's Champions League - yet, they could also gain entry by claiming Europa League glory.

The Basque side are intent on going all the way this year, as the final will take place on home turf at San Mames, and they successfully completed the first part of that mission by finishing second in the inaugural league phase.

Star man Nico Williams - who struck the woodwork twice in Saturday's loss to Atleti - was on target in a final matchday win over Viktoria Plzen, as Ernesto Valverde's men ended up level on points with Lazio and one ahead of Manchester United.

Athletic may have won six of their last seven Europa League games, but before travelling to Rome, the Bilbao club have a miserable recent record in the latter stages.

Having lost four of their last five knockout contests, they will be keen to avoid another defeat on Thursday, keeping themselves in good shape for next week's return.

After Roma's top scorer Artem Dovbyk celebrated his return from injury by scoring as a substitute, the Ukrainian striker could now replace Eldor Shomurodov in the hosts' starting lineup.

It remains to be seen whether he is paired with Paulo Dybala; if the latter is rested by Claudio Ranieri, younger men such as Matias Soule, Nicolo Pisilli and Tommaso Baldanzi will battle it out for places behind the lone frontman.

While Baldanzi is one of five players at risk of being suspended for the second leg - including Dybala - Leandro Paredes has already passed the threshold for bookings and must serve a one-match ban. Bryan Cristante should therefore start in midfield.

Meanwhile, Athletic Club's Oihan Sancet passed a fitness test and will travel to Italy, but Alvaro Djalo is still sidelined by an ankle problem.

Once again, Inaki Williams is set to start alongside younger brother Nico Williams in the visitors' attack, with Gorka Guruzeta and Maroan Sannadi vying to join them.

Among players to complete at least 500 minutes in this season's Europa League, Williams junior has made the most dribbles per 90 minutes (9.6) - the highest rate of anyone since the 2019-20 campaign.

Roma possible starting lineup:

Svilar; Celik, Mancini, Ndicka; Saelemaekers, Kone, Cristante, Angelino; Dybala, Pellegrini; Dovbyk

Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:

Simon; De Marcos, Vivian, Paredes, Yuri; Jauregizar, Vesga; I. Williams, Gomez, N. Williams; Sannadi