Gasperini extends Roma's reach: Pellegrini returns to action ahead of Como

Paulo Dybala has undergone a striking transformation at Roma this season, shifting from a pure finisher to a playmaker under Gian Piero Gasperini. With four official assists in Serie A — reportedly seven without regulatory technicalities — he has become the league's leading provider. The change reflects reduced obsession with scoring and greater focus on team service, aided by an exceptional physical condition never matched since his arrival at the club and buoyed by new attacking partners including Donyell Malen, who have eased the burden of single-handedly leading the attack. Dybala's resurgence stems principally from his fitness, managed by new athletic staff led by Alessandro Pilati, who arrived from Genoa after 22 years there. He has logged record minutes across Serie A and the Champions League, underpinned by his decision to abandon personal trainers and rely solely on occasional pilates sessions with his wife Oriana. That choice has yielded immediate results alongside strong leadership in the dressing room, evidenced by his decision to cut his salary significantly to remain tied to Roma. This period of enhanced prominence coincides with an invitation from Lionel Messi to participate in what is likely Messi's final match for Argentina, against Benin at the Monumental stadium. Gasperini and his coaching staff, however, prefer to avoid a long and demanding journey on the eve of the league's resumption and Roma's fixture against Como. The plan is to keep Dybala at Trigoria, protect the work accomplished so far, and ensure continuity in the new chapter of the club's campaign.

Mile Svilar has emerged as one of Europe's elite goalkeepers under Gian Piero Gasperini, and AS Roma have decisively rejected multiple advances for him this summer, including a concrete approach from Juventus worth over €40 million. The Friedkin Group stood firm, and Svilar has signed a new contract through 2030, anchoring his long-term future at the club. Svilar's form speaks for itself. In five matches this season, he has recorded three clean sheets, 13 saves and an 81.2% success rate on interventions—an average of 2.5 saves per game that places him among the elite goalkeepers with at least fifty official appearances. His performances have been pivotal: decisive interventions against Bisseck and Lautaro in the match against Inter, and against Simeone at Turin. Gasperini's system, which frequently exposes Roma to open-field duels, perfectly suits Svilar's exceptional low-ball exits and one-on-one defending. His development has been consistent since De Rossi's faith in him, followed by the backing of Ranieri, and now the complete trust of Gasperini. At 23, Svilar has rebuilt his career at Roma after difficulties at Benfica, nearly three years into his tenure as the club's undisputed first choice. He has become a leader and an idol to the supporters. One complication shadows his record: after playing for Belgium's youth sides, a 2021 friendly appearance for Serbia prevents him from being called up by the Belgian national team today—a minor disappointment that does not alter his standing at Trigoria.

Gian Piero Gasperini is refusing to ease off during the international break, instead using the coming weeks to prepare Roma for a late-autumn peak when his teams have historically shown their strongest form. While Inter gave their squad six days of complete rest, Gasperini has maintained high-intensity training at Trigoria, though the programme is inevitably shaped by the departure of twelve international players. The squad remaining in Rome includes Mile Svilar, Donyell Malen, Paulo Dybala, Mario Hermoso, Bryan Cristante, Devyne Rensch, Nahuel Molina and Marten de Roon, alongside players requiring specific work—notably Wesley, who must build his athletic base, and Lorenzo Pellegrini, who is returning from a lengthy absence and has already begun an intensive programme to rejoin regular rotation. Gasperini is also considering organizing a friendly match that could involve some youth-team players. Gasperini's approach reflects a precise logic. His teams have consistently shown their best athletic performance between late autumn and early winter, when the benefits of summer preparation become fully absorbed. His most famous precedent came in his first Atalanta season, when six consecutive league wins in November 2016 transformed a team with survival as its target into a Europa League contender. Similar runs followed in 2021 and 2024. Roma have already started well despite not yet operating at full capacity—some new players are still integrating, others building fitness, and Pellegrini has barely begun his season. The stretch ahead will demand depth: the combination of league and Champions League fixtures will produce a sequence of closely spaced matches making it impossible to rely on the same eleven throughout. For this reason Gasperini does not want a pause. He wants a launchpad. The logic is that Roma have already built their league position during the summer; now the coach wants to prepare their bodies for autumn. If the pattern his squads have followed repeats itself, the strongest part of the season may still be to come.

Gian Piero Gasperini is refusing to ease off during the international break, instead using the coming weeks to prepare Roma for a late-autumn peak when his teams have historically shown their strongest form. While Inter gave their squad six days of complete rest, Gasperini has maintained high-intensity training at Trigoria, though the programme is inevitably shaped by the departure of twelve international players. The squad remaining in Rome includes Mile Svilar, Donyell Malen, Paulo Dybala, Mario Hermoso, Bryan Cristante, Devyne Rensch, Nahuel Molina and Marten de Roon, alongside players requiring specific work—notably Wesley, who must build his athletic base, and Lorenzo Pellegrini, who is returning from a lengthy absence and has already begun an intensive programme to rejoin regular rotation. Gasperini is also considering organizing a friendly match that could involve some youth-team players. Gasperini's approach reflects a precise logic. His teams have consistently shown their best athletic performance between late autumn and early winter, when the benefits of summer preparation become fully absorbed. His most famous precedent came in his first Atalanta season, when six consecutive league wins in November 2016 transformed a team with survival as its target into a Europa League contender. Similar runs followed in 2021 and 2024. Roma have already started well despite not yet operating at full capacity—some new players are still integrating, others building fitness, and Pellegrini has barely begun his season. The stretch ahead will demand depth: the combination of league and Champions League fixtures will produce a sequence of closely spaced matches making it impossible to rely on the same eleven throughout. For this reason Gasperini does not want a pause. He wants a launchpad. The logic is that Roma have already built their league position during the summer; now the coach wants to prepare their bodies for autumn. If the pattern his squads have followed repeats itself, the strongest part of the season may still be to come.

Lorenzo Pellegrini will use the international break to complete his recovery and return to full fitness ahead of Roma's fixture against Como. Pellegrini was recalled to the squad for the Torino match and can become a fresh asset for Gasperini's group as he regains full sharpness. Roma continue to monitor young midfield prospects and are following Darryl Bakola, a French player born in 2007 from Sassuolo. The club will not be seeking him as a direct replacement for Manu Koné, who has demonstrated his importance to Gasperini's system in recent matches, including against Inter. Without Koné, Roma are visibly weakened in midfield.

Roma continued their conditioning work at Trigoria on 22 September, refusing to ease off during the international break. The squad's next match is scheduled for 11 October against Como, but Gasperini kept the players sharp with athletic sessions despite the pause in fixtures. Among those training were Paulo Dybala and Mile Svilar, alongside several players using the stoppage to rebuild match fitness after recent struggles or late arrivals to the squad. Nahuel Molina, Marten de Roon and Lorenzo Pellegrini were the focus of Gasperini's attention during these weeks without competition. Molina, an Argentine midfielder, suffered fatigue from a long World Cup campaign but had recently rediscovered sufficient form; Gasperini aims to have him at peak condition for a demanding run of fixtures in October. De Roon, who joined late in the transfer window after being sidelined in Maurizio Sarri's plans at Atalanta, follows a similar recovery path. Pellegrini, the captain and number 7, earned his first squad call-up this season in the match against Torino and must complete his athletic rehabilitation after missing the summer preparation alongside his teammates. He will use these weeks without matches to conduct a mini pre-season programme. Also training were Pierluigi Gollini, Devyne Rensch, Vasquez and Giorgio De Marzi under Gasperini's close observation. Three players were absent: Bryan Cristante due to lower back pain, Donyell Malen with a knee complaint, and Wesley sidelined by a muscular strain.

Antonio Carlos Zago, a defender in Roma's 2001 Serie A championship team, has said Roma can harbour serious ambitions of winning the title this season under Gian Piero Gasperini. Speaking to Il Messaggero, Zago highlighted the strong start the side has made and identified Inter as their only real rival, while ruling out direct comparison with the 2001 squad because of the different era and the strength of Italian football then, when Juventus, Milan, Parma, Lazio and Inter were all formidable forces. On Roma's defensive options, Zago singled out Gianluca Mancini as the player most similar to himself. "Balerdi arrived with a bit of scepticism and is proving to be an excellent player," he said. "Roma has a very good back line." Wesley drew particular praise: "For me he is one of the strongest full-backs in the world—Real Madrid and Manchester City wanted him too. It's not easy to arrive from Brazil and perform at this level. He is playing well on both the right and left. Perhaps he is scoring less but that doesn't mean he is struggling." On the attacking threat, Zago highlighted Paulo Dybala's form and noted that Donyell Malen has already reached six goals, saying "They can play it out to the end." When asked to compare Leonardo Balerdi to the Argentine defender Walter Samuel, Zago cautioned against the comparison: "It is complicated to compare him to Walter at this moment—he arrived not long ago while Walter was already a pillar of the Argentine national team. I hope he can build his career. Obviously if he becomes like Walter it would mean winning the title at the end of the year. It takes a bit of time, but if you are strong you adapt quickly, and when you have champions around you, you adapt easily to the coach's demands." On Gasperini, Zago was emphatic: "If he is not the strongest of the last ten years, he is certainly in the top three. He did great work at Atalanta, taking a mid-table team to play Champions League football and win the Europa League. In Serie A he is the best. The squad must follow him and can aim for great results."

Gianluca Mancini has opened up about his passion for cycling, a long-standing hobby that has become an important part of his life away from football. The Roma defender will appear on the new episode of 'A Ruota Libera', which airs on 23 September on Eurosport, discussing his journey into the sport in a preview clip shared on the broadcaster's social channels. Mancini, currently with the Italian national team, traced the origins of his cycling interest with humour. He explained how he began with a rental bike before deciding to buy his own, recalling that his friends joked he had bought "a gate" because of the old model he chose initially. He described his progression through different bikes and setups, eventually settling on a Canyon model—the same brand used by Mathieu van der Poel—specifically selected for its colour scheme. "Now I wanted the bike of Mathieu van der Poel, the Canyon, with colouring similar to Roma's colours. Great stuff," he said. Mancini credited his cycling friends with transforming his approach to the hobby. "I have wanted the bike of Mathieu van der Poel, the Canyon, with a colour scheme similar to Roma's colours. It's something else. These guys I go cycling with have changed everything for me—they are really passionate about it. They go out every day and give me advice every single day," he reflected, noting that he had initially struggled with manual gears while watching others use automatic systems.

Roma radio stations have dissected the team's opening weeks of the 2026-27 season, focusing on attacking output, midfield deployment, and the defensive lapses that cost them against Inter. Gianluca Piacentini noted that while the team has impressed overall, Santiago Castro has yet to score despite solid performances, and the attacking group has contributed only three goals total—two from Matías Soulé and one from Rodrigo Mora—leaving room for improvement. Donyell Malen, who remained in Rome during the international break, has been the standout performer among the forwards. The consensus is that Roma's attackers, particularly Castro, Soulé and Mora, would have benefited from staying at Trigoria rather than joining their national teams for what several commentators dismissed as unnecessary international fixtures. Francesca Ferrazza explained that criticism of Paulo Dybala's reduced shooting is misplaced: "Now they're criticising Dybala because he doesn't score and doesn't shoot, but in my opinion it's precisely a deliberate choice to shoot less in goal. A choice shared with the manager, by the way. To extend his season and his career, he plays for others more than for himself." The discussion around Lorenzo Pellegrini centred on tactical fit. Lorenzo Pes raised concerns about how Pellegrini will adapt to Gasperini's intensity: "What intrigues me is how he might fit into certain systems. When you play with a trequartista, that is his best position, perhaps in that role he's the best you have, but when you line up differently on the pitch I'm not sure how much he can adapt. Last season he did reasonably well but in a very different Roma—now it's much more intense. Gasperini says he can see him in midfield too, but in that role he's never actually put him there." Mario Corsi challenged the narrative around Gianluca Mancini's role in Inter's goal, pointing out that four Roma defenders were on the pitch yet failed to function as a unit. He argued the real issue is a lack of a player who can beat his man consistently. Piero Torri stressed that after the international break, Roma will need all available players, with Gasperini having stated the team must operate with a squad of 20 across a seven-match stretch. Roberto Pruzzo offered a positive assessment, noting that Malen's presence this season—absent last year—and Dybala's apparent full recovery give Roma credible tools to challenge Inter, especially once the remainder of the transfer window closes. Luigi Salomone suggested that had Roma's previous manager substituted a different forward earlier against Lazio, the result might have shifted dramatically. The international break will resume mid-October, after which Roma face a compressed fixture list in both Serie A and the Champions League that will test squad depth and tactical flexibility.