Nardo questions Roma's readiness for Real Madrid clash

Gian Piero Gasperini is preparing Roma for Sunday's trip to Como, kickoff 12:30 at the Sinigaglia, with three key selection dilemmas to resolve. The primary question concerns who will partner Paulo Dybala and Donyell Malen in attack, with Lorenzo Pellegrini reportedly in front-runner status against Matías Soulé and Rodrigo Mora. Pellegrini has completed his recovery and trained encouragingly on Saturday; crucially, he is the only one of the three who worked at Trigoria throughout the international break without travelling for his national team. Soulé will return from Argentina only in the coming days after participating in the Albiceleste's fixtures and Messi farewell celebrations, meaning Gasperini will not have him available until Friday—just 48 hours before kickoff. Rodrigo Mora, engaged with Portugal Under-21, will also return during the week. Pellegrini's case is strengthened not only by continuity of preparation but by defensive contribution: without the injured Bryan Cristante, Gasperini may need the attacking midfielder to provide additional midfield cover and pressing against Como's possession-based approach under Fabregas, helping to compress spaces between the lines. In midfield, Marten de Roon is the leading candidate to replace Cristante, whose knee problem makes his availability in Como highly unlikely. Gasperini will not take risks and can draw on his knowledge of the Dutch midfielder from their Atalanta days. Manu Koné, expected at Trigoria today after France duty, will partner him, tasked with ball recovery, pressing support and rapid transition from defence to attack. At the back, Evan N'Dicka and Leonardo Balerdi are competing for a place, with N'Dicka potentially returning to the starting eleven after international football. N'Dicka has already returned to Trigoria; Balerdi faces the long journey from Argentina and is not expected to train with the group until Friday. Energy management may therefore influence Gasperini's choices. More positive news arrives from Donyell Malen and Wesley, both of whom took part in Saturday's session and are expected to be available for Sunday barring late problems. Malen's return would allow Gasperini to maintain his primary attacking reference, while Wesley provides important resources for pressing Como's wide areas. The Sinigaglia trip opens a particularly intense phase of the season. After Como, Roma will host Real Madrid in the Champions League, followed by a fixture against Genoa. Three close-fixture demands will force Gasperini to think beyond Sunday's starting eleven and into energy distribution across all three matches. For that reason, Soulé, Mora and Pellegrini may all find minutes in the coming fixtures regardless of who starts against Como.

Lorenzo Pellegrini is in line to feature in Roma's attacking midfield against Como after returning to full availability under Gian Piero Gasperini. The number 7 is ahead of Matías Soulé and Rodrigo Mora in the battle to complete the attacking setup in the away fixture. Gasperini's selection may be influenced by workload management. Pellegrini remained at Trigoria throughout the international break and has been able to work continuously under the coach's direction, while his direct rivals have been on international duty. Soulé is only expected back in the capital as the match approaches following his commitments with Argentina, while Mora returns this afternoon after time with Portugal Under 21. With the match just days away, this situation could affect Gasperini's starting decisions.

Lionel Messi scored and provided two assists as Argentina closed out his 21-year international career with a 3–0 friendly victory over Benin at the Monumental stadium in front of over 85,000 supporters. Messi was visibly moved during the celebrations. Nicolás Otamendi opened the scoring at 48 minutes from a Messi assist, Nico Paz doubled the lead at 61 minutes also from the captain's pass, and Messi himself converted a penalty at 71 minutes—his 126th and final goal for the Selección. The match ended his playing journey that included victory at the 2022 World Cup and two Copa América titles across 208 appearances. Three AS Roma players took no part in Messi's farewell. Leonardo Balerdi remained on the bench for the full 90 minutes, while Matías Soulé and Santiago Castro were not included in the squad at all. Both Soulé and Castro had made their senior debuts for Argentina in the earlier friendly against Burkina Faso. The international break now concludes for the Roma trio, and they return to Trigoria ahead of the squad's trip to Como on Sunday. Gian Piero Gasperini will prepare them for that fixture. For Soulé and Castro, the break marked the realisation of a significant milestone—their first appearances for the national team.

Gian Piero Gasperini is preparing Roma for Sunday's trip to Como, kickoff 12:30 at the Sinigaglia, with three key selection dilemmas to resolve. The primary question concerns who will partner Paulo Dybala and Donyell Malen in attack, with Lorenzo Pellegrini reportedly in front-runner status against Matías Soulé and Rodrigo Mora. Pellegrini has completed his recovery and trained encouragingly on Saturday; crucially, he is the only one of the three who worked at Trigoria throughout the international break without travelling for his national team. Soulé will return from Argentina only in the coming days after participating in the Albiceleste's fixtures and Messi farewell celebrations, meaning Gasperini will not have him available until Friday—just 48 hours before kickoff. Rodrigo Mora, engaged with Portugal Under-21, will also return during the week. Pellegrini's case is strengthened not only by continuity of preparation but by defensive contribution: without the injured Bryan Cristante, Gasperini may need the attacking midfielder to provide additional midfield cover and pressing against Como's possession-based approach under Fabregas, helping to compress spaces between the lines. In midfield, Marten de Roon is the leading candidate to replace Cristante, whose knee problem makes his availability in Como highly unlikely. Gasperini will not take risks and can draw on his knowledge of the Dutch midfielder from their Atalanta days. Manu Koné, expected at Trigoria today after France duty, will partner him, tasked with ball recovery, pressing support and rapid transition from defence to attack. At the back, Evan N'Dicka and Leonardo Balerdi are competing for a place, with N'Dicka potentially returning to the starting eleven after international football. N'Dicka has already returned to Trigoria; Balerdi faces the long journey from Argentina and is not expected to train with the group until Friday. Energy management may therefore influence Gasperini's choices. More positive news arrives from Donyell Malen and Wesley, both of whom took part in Saturday's session and are expected to be available for Sunday barring late problems. Malen's return would allow Gasperini to maintain his primary attacking reference, while Wesley provides important resources for pressing Como's wide areas. The Sinigaglia trip opens a particularly intense phase of the season. After Como, Roma will host Real Madrid in the Champions League, followed by a fixture against Genoa. Three close-fixture demands will force Gasperini to think beyond Sunday's starting eleven and into energy distribution across all three matches. For that reason, Soulé, Mora and Pellegrini may all find minutes in the coming fixtures regardless of who starts against Como.

Lionel Messi scored and provided two assists as Argentina closed out his 21-year international career with a 3–0 friendly victory over Benin at the Monumental stadium in front of over 85,000 supporters. Messi was visibly moved during the celebrations. Nicolás Otamendi opened the scoring at 48 minutes from a Messi assist, Nico Paz doubled the lead at 61 minutes also from the captain's pass, and Messi himself converted a penalty at 71 minutes—his 126th and final goal for the Selección. The match ended his playing journey that included victory at the 2022 World Cup and two Copa América titles across 208 appearances. Three AS Roma players took no part in Messi's farewell. Leonardo Balerdi remained on the bench for the full 90 minutes, while Matías Soulé and Santiago Castro were not included in the squad at all. Both Soulé and Castro had made their senior debuts for Argentina in the earlier friendly against Burkina Faso. The international break now concludes for the Roma trio, and they return to Trigoria ahead of the squad's trip to Como on Sunday. Gian Piero Gasperini will prepare them for that fixture. For Soulé and Castro, the break marked the realisation of a significant milestone—their first appearances for the national team.

Lorenzo Pellegrini is available again and in contention to start in the attack alongside Donyell Malen and Paulo Dybala for Roma's match against Como, a fixture that could reinforce the club's title ambitions. Gasperini now has the midfielder fully recovered after positive signs during training on 6 October. Pellegrini holds an advantage over Matías Soulé and Rodrigo Mora because he is the only one of the three who has had no international commitments; Soulé will return just 48 hours before the Como match following Argentina's post-Messi celebration fixture, while Mora returns to Rome on 7 October afternoon after Under-21 duty. Pellegrini's availability also offers tactical flexibility to support a midfield left without Bryan Cristante. The rotation between the three attacking midfielders will be necessary given Roma's fixture schedule—Real Madrid (managed by Mourinho) and Genoa (managed by De Rossi) will arrive at the Olimpico within four days. Pellegrini's return, awaited since April following injury and a protracted contract dispute, represents a significant moment. For two months he was a free agent but chose to honour his commitment to Gasperini, halve his salary and reject offers from Juventus and Besiktas to remain in the capital. In defence, Evan N'Dicka and Leonardo Balerdi compete for a place, while Marten de Roon will substitute for Cristante in midfield.

Gian Piero Gasperini is preparing Roma for Sunday's trip to Como, kickoff 12:30 at the Sinigaglia, with three key selection dilemmas to resolve. The primary question concerns who will partner Paulo Dybala and Donyell Malen in attack, with Lorenzo Pellegrini reportedly in front-runner status against Matías Soulé and Rodrigo Mora. Pellegrini has completed his recovery and trained encouragingly on Saturday; crucially, he is the only one of the three who worked at Trigoria throughout the international break without travelling for his national team. Soulé will return from Argentina only in the coming days after participating in the Albiceleste's fixtures and Messi farewell celebrations, meaning Gasperini will not have him available until Friday—just 48 hours before kickoff. Rodrigo Mora, engaged with Portugal Under-21, will also return during the week. Pellegrini's case is strengthened not only by continuity of preparation but by defensive contribution: without the injured Bryan Cristante, Gasperini may need the attacking midfielder to provide additional midfield cover and pressing against Como's possession-based approach under Fabregas, helping to compress spaces between the lines. In midfield, Marten de Roon is the leading candidate to replace Cristante, whose knee problem makes his availability in Como highly unlikely. Gasperini will not take risks and can draw on his knowledge of the Dutch midfielder from their Atalanta days. Manu Koné, expected at Trigoria today after France duty, will partner him, tasked with ball recovery, pressing support and rapid transition from defence to attack. At the back, Evan N'Dicka and Leonardo Balerdi are competing for a place, with N'Dicka potentially returning to the starting eleven after international football. N'Dicka has already returned to Trigoria; Balerdi faces the long journey from Argentina and is not expected to train with the group until Friday. Energy management may therefore influence Gasperini's choices. More positive news arrives from Donyell Malen and Wesley, both of whom took part in Saturday's session and are expected to be available for Sunday barring late problems. Malen's return would allow Gasperini to maintain his primary attacking reference, while Wesley provides important resources for pressing Como's wide areas. The Sinigaglia trip opens a particularly intense phase of the season. After Como, Roma will host Real Madrid in the Champions League, followed by a fixture against Genoa. Three close-fixture demands will force Gasperini to think beyond Sunday's starting eleven and into energy distribution across all three matches. For that reason, Soulé, Mora and Pellegrini may all find minutes in the coming fixtures regardless of who starts against Como.

Roma have a troubling record after international breaks. Across the last two seasons—2024–25 and 2025–26—the Giallorossi returned to action eight times following domestic breaks and won only twice, a pattern that will concern Gian Piero Gasperini ahead of Sunday's trip to Como, which marks the team's restart. The streak began in September 2024 under Daniele De Rossi. After opening defeats, Roma drew 1–1 away at Genoa, with Koni De Winter equalising in the 96th minute. De Rossi was sacked two days later and replaced by Ivan Juric. The next break brought no relief: on 20 October, Roma lost 1–0 at home to Inter. That defeat preceded Juric's own departure and the arrival of Claudio Ranieri. On 24 November, Ranieri's first game back after a break ended in a 1–0 loss at Napoli. Only in spring 2025 did Roma secure their first post-break win of the 2024–25 season, beating Lecce 1–0 away—their sole victory in four such restarts that year. The trend persisted into 2025–26. Gasperini's first post-break match came on 15 September when Torino won 1–0 at the Olimpico. In October, Roma faced Inter again and again lost 1–0 at home despite a positive display. Victory finally arrived in November: away at Cremonese, Roma won 3–1, with goals from Matías Soulé, Evan Ferguson and Wesley. That remains their second and most recent post-break success across the eight matches studied. April brought another heavy defeat, losing 5–2 at Inter; however, Roma responded by winning six of their final seven league matches to secure third place and Champions League qualification.

Roma returned to training at Trigoria on 6 October in preparation for Sunday's away fixture against Como. After the international break, Gian Piero Gasperini found a larger squad available: Wesley and Malen completed part of the session with their teammates, marking an early stage in their recovery. Seven internationals — Mancini, Ghilardi, Lulli, Pisilli, N'Dicka, Koulierakis and De Marzi — also returned, while Koné is expected back on Wednesday. Bryan Cristante confirmed he remains sidelined by a knee issue that will keep him out of the Como and Real Madrid matches, though he is targeting a return as soon as possible. Cristante spoke at an Adidas event on Via del Corso, emphasizing the importance of continuity within the group and the shared determination to build something more solid. He described Roma as a more conscious squad, capable of competing steadily in the top positions of a long league campaign. He expressed emotion at the prospect of facing Mourinho and backed the new direction of the Italy national team, leaving open the possibility of a future call-up: "We'll see how the season goes." Gasperini told La Stampa he is in "a good period" but stressed the need for continuity and determination to sustain a high level. He spoke of natural cycles in a team—rising and falling—and the importance of having the strength to rebuild during difficult moments. The coach employed what he called a "vineyard metaphor" to describe his vision: building an important path requires daily work, professionalism, quality players, a solid club and an enthusiastic environment—elements Roma is now putting into place.

Gian Piero Gasperini is preparing Roma for Sunday's trip to Como, kickoff 12:30 at the Sinigaglia, with three key selection dilemmas to resolve. The primary question concerns who will partner Paulo Dybala and Donyell Malen in attack, with Lorenzo Pellegrini reportedly in front-runner status against Matías Soulé and Rodrigo Mora. Pellegrini has completed his recovery and trained encouragingly on Saturday; crucially, he is the only one of the three who worked at Trigoria throughout the international break without travelling for his national team. Soulé will return from Argentina only in the coming days after participating in the Albiceleste's fixtures and Messi farewell celebrations, meaning Gasperini will not have him available until Friday—just 48 hours before kickoff. Rodrigo Mora, engaged with Portugal Under-21, will also return during the week. Pellegrini's case is strengthened not only by continuity of preparation but by defensive contribution: without the injured Bryan Cristante, Gasperini may need the attacking midfielder to provide additional midfield cover and pressing against Como's possession-based approach under Fabregas, helping to compress spaces between the lines. In midfield, Marten de Roon is the leading candidate to replace Cristante, whose knee problem makes his availability in Como highly unlikely. Gasperini will not take risks and can draw on his knowledge of the Dutch midfielder from their Atalanta days. Manu Koné, expected at Trigoria today after France duty, will partner him, tasked with ball recovery, pressing support and rapid transition from defence to attack. At the back, Evan N'Dicka and Leonardo Balerdi are competing for a place, with N'Dicka potentially returning to the starting eleven after international football. N'Dicka has already returned to Trigoria; Balerdi faces the long journey from Argentina and is not expected to train with the group until Friday. Energy management may therefore influence Gasperini's choices. More positive news arrives from Donyell Malen and Wesley, both of whom took part in Saturday's session and are expected to be available for Sunday barring late problems. Malen's return would allow Gasperini to maintain his primary attacking reference, while Wesley provides important resources for pressing Como's wide areas. The Sinigaglia trip opens a particularly intense phase of the season. After Como, Roma will host Real Madrid in the Champions League, followed by a fixture against Genoa. Three close-fixture demands will force Gasperini to think beyond Sunday's starting eleven and into energy distribution across all three matches. For that reason, Soulé, Mora and Pellegrini may all find minutes in the coming fixtures regardless of who starts against Como.

Lorenzo Pellegrini is available again and in contention to start in the attack alongside Donyell Malen and Paulo Dybala for Roma's match against Como, a fixture that could reinforce the club's title ambitions. Gasperini now has the midfielder fully recovered after positive signs during training on 6 October. Pellegrini holds an advantage over Matías Soulé and Rodrigo Mora because he is the only one of the three who has had no international commitments; Soulé will return just 48 hours before the Como match following Argentina's post-Messi celebration fixture, while Mora returns to Rome on 7 October afternoon after Under-21 duty. Pellegrini's availability also offers tactical flexibility to support a midfield left without Bryan Cristante. The rotation between the three attacking midfielders will be necessary given Roma's fixture schedule—Real Madrid (managed by Mourinho) and Genoa (managed by De Rossi) will arrive at the Olimpico within four days. Pellegrini's return, awaited since April following injury and a protracted contract dispute, represents a significant moment. For two months he was a free agent but chose to honour his commitment to Gasperini, halve his salary and reject offers from Juventus and Besiktas to remain in the capital. In defence, Evan N'Dicka and Leonardo Balerdi compete for a place, while Marten de Roon will substitute for Cristante in midfield.

A documentary about Donyell Malen's path to AS Roma is being released on YouTube on 14 October, produced by Amazon Prime Italia. The film, titled *From Home to Rome*, traces the forward's origins and early development in football, including his time at youth club Success, where he took his first steps in the game. Malen has made a strong impression at Roma since his arrival and settled quickly in the capital. The documentary crew visited the Success academy's training ground to film and conducted interviews with Malen's mother and grandmother. The content will detail his childhood, the places that shaped him, and the journey that brought him to his new life in Rome.