Gasperini transforms Roma in five months: from San Siro humiliation to Champions League

Roma are now the bookmakers' second favourites to win the Serie A title, behind Inter, according to odds analysed by agipronews. Inter remain overwhelming favourites at 1.70, while Roma are priced at 5.00. The title race could therefore extend beyond two teams this season. Como are third at 9.00, level with AC Milan, while Lazio have drifted out to 10.00, having been at double that price previously. Juventus are further back at 30.00, and Napoli are priced at 66.00.

Roma's first-half-of-the-second-half problem is becoming impossible to ignore: with Edin Zaniolo's goal, the club have now conceded five goals in the first five minutes of the second half since the start of the season. The Gian Piero Gasperini side win, score and rarely lose, but the pattern has become increasingly evident. Last season, Roma conceded just four such goals across the entire campaign, so something has clearly changed. Roma now press more, have a clear identity and appear comfortable at every stage of a match. Those opening five minutes after the break, however, remain a weak point, and the problem points above all to the team's mental resilience. The issue is far from accidental. In Udine, there was some mitigation in the four-goal cushion, with a drop in tension that is understandable. But that does not erase the problem. Gasperini's machine works beautifully, yet one cog still needs fixing.

Roma thrashed Udinese 5-0 and continued their remarkable scoring run, with 28 goals in the first ten rounds of the season, an average of 2.8 per match. The Corriere della Sera reports that it is the club's best return in a single-group league format, a record matched only in 1928-29, and Roma now boast the best attack in the division. The side have kept their attacking identity despite a long injury list. Svilar, Koné, Pellegrini and Dybala have all been sidelined, while Cristante has just returned from injury. Roma have not altered the way they play, and the team keeps pressing for goals even when the tempo drops. The goals have been spread across the squad rather than resting on one man. Malen is among the scorers, but the output is not down to him alone: 11 different players have scored in Serie A, rising to 14 once Champions League goals are included. Gasperini has highlighted that many of the goals come after well-constructed, attractive moves. The report places this side in a long Roman tradition of attacking football, from Liedholm's web-like passing and Eriksson's vertical play with Pruzzo, through Spalletti's team with Totti and Dzeko, to Zeman's offensive sides. The article argues that Gasperini's Roma now belongs in that gallery of teams that have made Roma fans dream.