Middlesbrough enjoyed a taste of the momentous European occasion when Lazio arrived on Teesside last season. Tonight promises to be even bigger and Chief Football Writer Paul Fraser learned a little more about AS Roma by talking to Italian football expert James Richardson.

WITH such an impressive global reputation, built up through years of competing on the greatest of European stages, distinguished Italians AS Roma arrive in the North-East for what promises to be the most prestigious night in Middlesbrough's 129-year history.

Having tasted a similarly momentous occasion last season, when Roma's big-city rivals Lazio arrived at a sold-out Riverside Stadium, Boro know what it means to be competing against a club with such an outstanding pedigree.

And, after being marred by controversy in recent years on and off the field, it is rather appropriate that when they do hear the first whistle of the UEFA Cup last-16 tie at the Riverside that they are once again a team to be reckoned with.

An Italian Serie A record of 11 straight wins may have come to a close on Sunday night when they drew 1-1 with Inter Milan in the Stadio Olimpico, but an unbeaten league run of 13 games was extended.

That emphatic run of form has seen them climb from relegation candidates to within touching distance of the leaders. That in itself is an incredible turnaround for a club that has been clouded in uncertainty since winning the Scuddetto in 2001 and revealing debts of around £110m not too long afterwards.

But there has been great change in recent months. A lack of money has not distracted coach Luciano Spalletti and he has successfully returned hope to the fanatical Roma supporters who had been fearing a decline of gargantuan proportions.

Even without the financial clout of a Juventus or an AC Milan, Spalletti's operations in the transfer market have turned to almost perfection since taking over 12 months ago and the feeling around the Olimpico is now one of real optimism.

"There was very little room for manoeuvre last summer and Spalletti's signings proved as much," said James Richardson, the man who fronted Channel 4's Football Italia coverage and is now doing the same for satellite channel Bravo.

"Shabani Nonda, Rodrigo Taddai and Samuel Kuffour were the three main signings and they all arrived on free transfers.

"But that has helped the club enormously. They are certainly not rolling in money again and the fact they sold teenage wonderboy Antonio Cassano to Real Madrid for just £3.5m highlights as much, but they are certainly in a far healthier state now.

"Incredibly the Roma fans are now even beginning to think they can win Serie A again this season. Personally, and I won't be the only one, I don't think it will happen and it will be a few more seasons before they do.

"Roma are still very much behind Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan in terms of having the spending power but they remain one of the greatest clubs in Italy and one of the greatest clubs in world football."

Having spent so much time on the decline in recent years it is understandable for the Roma hierarchy to be focused on delivering silverware in any shape or form.

However, where Boro dream of going all the way in the competition, a UEFA Cup spot comes way down in the pecking order for their Italian counterparts.

"Roma have got themselves back on to a decent financial footing again and that can only continue by making sure they are playing in the Champions League again next season," said Richardson, now based in London having spent ten years out in Italy, where he used to occasionally have a drive round Rome's streets with Paul Gascoigne during his days with Lazio.

"It is for that reason that Spalletti's team selection will be interesting. He still has a couple of injury problems - most notably to Francesco Totti who has broken his ankle - but he could prefer to rest key players for the league game at the weekend.

"When Roma played Bruges in the previous round they rested a couple of players because they knew they had an important league game with Lazio on the following Sunday. That could well be the case against Middlesbrough."

Whatever line up Spalletti does name there is a likelihood he will opt to play with the same sort of formation that rewarded his side with 11 consecutive league wins, meaning playing without an out-and-out striker.

Both Vincenzo Montella and Nonda, the club's only recognised forwards following the departure of bad-boy Cassano to Real in January, were injured for much of that winning run and are missing again tonight.

So Spalletti was forced to try something different. "What was most remarkable about that run was that it was achieved without a striker," Richardson explained.

"Totti, before he was injured, was asked to operate on his own as an attacking midfielder, rather than a striker. Totti is such a tremendous distributor of the ball that he could play there, spreading the ball to his two wide, men and it worked fantastically.

"Now that Totti is facing months on the sidelines no-one really knows how effectively that can work without him. They have struggled in the three games without him, although Brazilian midfielder Mancini has been doing his best to ensure they don't miss Totti too much."

Having spent such a large degree of his life concentrating on the twists and turns of Italian football, Richardson is well aware of two of Boro's players who have graced the Seri A turf.

Gaizka Mendieta spent an unsuccessful year in Rome with Lazio after they paid nearly £30m to Valencia for his services, while Massimo Maccarone has struggled to live up to his £8.15m price-tag since swapping Italy for the Premiership.

"Mendieta struggled from day one there," said Richardson. "He is hideously slow and it was for that reason he failed to have the impact that was expected of him at a club who liked to attack.

"The fact he arrived at a time when the Sergio Cragnotti (former Lazio president) empire was collapsing around him certainly didn't help, and he was not the only one to suffer because of that. He could have done with an arm around his shoulder but that never arrived.

"Maccarone is a strange one. I believe he has been very unfortunate and his confidence has been shot to pieces at Middlesbrough.

"He didn't want to return to Middlesbrough in the summer and was quite keen to stay at Siena, where he had been playing well during a loan move. He was showing the sort of form that had got him noticed at international level and by Middlesbrough in the first place.

"But there's a feeling over in Italy that they are not keen on picking players for the national team who are in England. That's why Maccarone should go back home as soon as the chance comes up. Otherwise his career may never reach the heights he was expected to."

And what better way for Maccarone to showcase his talents to the Italian public by emerging from the bench to edge Boro beyond Roma and into the last eight of the UEFA Cup.

* James Richardson presents Football Italia on Bravo - check www.bravo.co.uk for listings.

Read more about Middlesbrough here.