McLaren relishing clash against Roma
In 2005, Middlesbrough were ousted from the UEFA Cup in the last 16 by Sporting Lisbon, but manager Steve McClaren is confident that this time his side is better equipped than it was last year to meet the challenge of a dream tie in the same stage of...
In 2005, Middlesbrough were ousted from the UEFA Cup in the last 16 by Sporting Lisbon, but manager Steve McClaren is confident that this time his side is better equipped than it was last year to meet the challenge of a dream tie in the same stage of the competition.
Twelve months ago, Boro fell 3-0 behind at the Riverside Stadium to Sporting and despite putting on an excellent display in Portugal, they slipped out 2-4 on aggregate.
Next month, Boro will meet in-form Roma as a reward for edging past Stuttgart. McClaren believes they are a stronger outfit now than they were last season.
"I think we are," he said. "When we went to Sporting last season, we were down to the bare bones.
"Hopefully, in two weeks, we will not be, but you saw (against Stuttgart), we got through that tie on the experience of last year and that's going to be invaluable."
Boro made it by the skin of their teeth on Thursday after Christian Tiffert cancelled out their 2-1 first-leg lead within 13 minutes of kick-off at the Riverside. The home side held on though and sneaked through on away goals (agg: 2-2).
Boro will host Roma on March 9 and travel to Italy the following week.
Nine countries are represented in the UEFA Cup last 16 with Italy and France leading the way with three clubs each. Schalke 04 are the only former winners left in contention.