Nyon – Porto for Roma, Red Star for Sassuolo. The European urn in Nyon gives the two Italian teams two renowned opponents: the two-time European champions Portuguese will be Roma obstacle on the path to the group stage of the Champions League. Sassuolo, after defeating Lucerne (3-0 at home yesterday) now aim to get into the group stage of the Europa League, but first they’ll have to fight the Serbs (1986 European Champions). All things considered, it could have gone better, although Roma and Sassuolo should have the necessary talent to play a good game, or at least to make up the gap in international experience. The Italian Capitol Team could have had to face Manchester City, the only “undefeatable” team of the lot, but Ajax and Borussia Moenchengladbach would have been met with extra relief. The Champions League matches will be played on August 17 (in Portugal) and August 23 (Olympic Stadium), those of Europa League on August 18 (at the Mapei Stadium) and 25 August in Belgrade. (9colonne)
