Roma Draws Gent in Europa League Round of 32

With a 4-0 thrashing of Istanbul, Roma's Europa League campaign began well enough, but what initially looked like cakewalk to the knockout stages soon became anything but. First there was the disappointing draw to Wolsfberger in Austraia, which was frustrating but not entirely unrealistic, but once Roma hit Borussia MGB things got a bit out of hand. There was the infamous faceball on Chris Smalling that robbed Roma of two points at the Olimpico, which was followed up by MGB's 95th minute match winner when the fixtures flipped back to German soil.

While Roma did enough to scrape together a second place finish in the group, their Europa League adventure was far more agonizing than it should have been. But with nine points Roma were good enough to gain passage to the knockout stages.

And earlier today in Nyon, their immediate Europa League future was revealed:

Roma's Round of 32 opponents are Belgian side Gent, who finished first in a Group I that featured Wolfsburg, St Etienne and FC Olexandriya and currently sit third in the Belgian league.

Roma will host Gent at the Olimpico on February 20th before traveling to Gent at the Ghelamco Arena on February 27th.