Matic praises Roma fans, recalls year at the club

Roma travel to Manchester United tomorrow evening for the fourth matchday of the Champions League league phase, with kick-off at 21:00 Italian time. Gasperini's side will look to build on their win over Slovan Bratislava and collect points that are vital to their qualification hopes. The club has issued key information for travelling Giallorossi supporters following the game at Old Trafford. The away section is in the south-east corner of the stadium and includes sectors S229 (entrance S22) and E230, E231, E232 and E233 (entrances E30 and AE8). Ticket holders for sector S229 may only enter through entrance S22, and requests to move to sectors E230 to E233 will not be possible. Sector allocation was made randomly according to the order in which tickets were purchased. Fans may enter the stadium from two hours before kick-off and will be subject to security checks on arrival. Bags larger than an A4 sheet of paper are not permitted. Entry to the away section will not be allowed under any circumstances for those holding tickets for other sections of the stadium. On the instruction of the local authorities, the meeting point for all Roma fans is Shambles Square (Shambles Square, Cathedral Gates, Manchester, M3 1SW). From there, supporters can walk to the stadium in about 45 minutes. From 17:00 on matchday, fans may march to Old Trafford in a group. The walking route will be closely monitored by the local authorities. Those wishing to travel to the stadium independently or by public transport are advised to arrive by 18:00 to ease entry procedures and avoid queues at the turnstiles. Every fan must make sure they have downloaded their ticket before arriving at the stadium.

Roma have published a full guide for the travelling supporters following the team to Old Trafford to face Manchester United, covering ticket access, the meeting point in central Manchester and the march to the stadium. The club has told fans that tickets bought for the away trip were sent to the email addresses given at the time of purchase. Fans who have not received their ticket message, or who have problems displaying the ticket, can call 06/89386000, which is open from 9am to 6:30pm. The ticket is in mobile format and works exclusively through NFC technology. The away section at Old Trafford is in the South-East corner of the stadium and includes sectors S229, with entrance S22, and E230, E231, E232 and E233, with entrances E30-AE8. Roma stressed that supporters holding a ticket for sector S229 may only enter through entrance S22 and cannot request a move to other sectors. Seats were allocated randomly, based on the order of purchase. The gates open two hours before kick-off. Security checks will be in place at the entrance, and bags larger than an A4 sheet of paper will not be allowed in. Tickets for other areas of the stadium will not grant access to the away section. On the instructions of the local authorities, the meeting point for all Roma supporters will be Shambles Square in central Manchester (Cathedral Gates, M3 1SW). From there, it is about 45 minutes on foot to Old Trafford. From 5pm on matchday, Giallorossi fans may head to the stadium in a march along a route that will be constantly monitored by the local authorities. Supporters who prefer to make their own way or use public transport are advised to arrive by 6pm to speed up entry and avoid queues at the turnstiles.

Former Milan and Fiorentina coach Stefano Pioli has revealed that Roma contacted him during September 2024, when the Giallorossi were searching for a replacement for Daniele De Rossi. Speaking on Sky Calcio Club, Pioli said he was approached by the Roman club but had already given his word to Al-Nassr. The approach came as Roma looked for a successor to De Rossi, who had been dismissed as head coach after four matches in 2025. Pioli's comments shed light on the club's search at that time, although he was already committed elsewhere when Roma made their move. Pioli said: "There were moments when everyone called me. Roma too, but the Al-Nassr contract had just arrived and I could not fail to respect the word I had given."

Pierluigi Gollini returns to Old Trafford twelve years after leaving Manchester United, the club he joined as a teenager and the place where he first made his name. The Roma goalkeeper is coming back in a key moment of his time in Rome. Gollini left Fiorentina's youth sector in 2012, aged 16, to move to England. The decision angered sporting director Corvino. After two seasons in the Academy, he moved into the Under-21 side, alongside Macheda, and began training regularly with the first team. In 2013/14 he played three Youth League matches but never made a first-team debut for the Red Devils. A few months later he returned to Italy, signing for Verona. He went back to the Premier League two years later with Aston Villa, and again with Tottenham in 2021. Looking back on his time in Manchester, Gollini has spoken of how the experience shaped him deeply, both as a person and as a player, exposing him to a completely different culture and reality. He recalled how his father first raised the idea: "My dad at one point asked me: 'Would you feel up to going to play abroad?' We went out to dinner at a restaurant and at a certain point my dad pulled a little card out and placed it in front of me: it was the business card of Manchester United. I was incredulous, I couldn't believe it." He also said: "Manchester was fundamental for my development. In England there is a different mentality, much more open and functional. Looking at how a club is run, what surprises you most is the level of the youth sectors, where they immediately work on physicality. In Italy a young player coming from the Primavera can't establish himself because of his physique, while in England the gap between the Under-23s and the first team is not so pronounced." The return comes at a particular moment in his Roma career. A stress fracture to the foot suffered by Svilar gave Gollini the starting berth. The former Atalanta keeper seized the opportunity, making his seventh consecutive appearance of the season in Udine. An important test now lies ahead before the gloves are handed back to Svilar.

Gian Piero Gasperini has reworked Roma's schedule around their Champions League clash at Manchester, with the club's return journey from the away game changed as well. Roma are playing their eighth match in 24 days and have had to do much of that without Manu Koné, Paulo Dybala, Mile Svilar and Bryan Cristante, leaving the squad stretched. A win in Manchester would all but seal a play-off place, but Roma must also break their Old Trafford hoodoo and cope with fatigue. After Tuesday's match against Cagliari, Gasperini gave the players a day off, with training resuming on Thursday. The squad leave for Udine on Friday, play on Saturday, and then stay in Friuli rather than returning to Rome. Roma have been in Manchester since yesterday, and the return plan differs from previous away trips. There will be no overnight journey after the match; instead, the team depart at 10.45 the following morning. The squad are due back at Trigoria on Wednesday afternoon, and from Thursday the focus shifts to Sassuolo. The lighter schedule is meant to help the players recover quickly before Saturday evening's fixture against the Neroverdi at the Stadio Olimpico. The move is designed to reduce physical and mental strain on a squad short of options, with Gasperini studying a plan to manage the team's energy levels across the run of games.

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.