Papu Gomez backs Roma for the title and thanks Gasperini for Dybala comparison

Radio commentators offered contrasting views on Roma's squad depth and title prospects ahead of the Como fixture. Piero Torri said Lorenzo Pellegrini could start, noting that despite arriving at 30 and having some difficult seasons, the captain has been a key player in strong campaigns. Torri acknowledged competition for the role from Matías Soulé and Rodrigo Mora, who have been on international duty. "I'm becoming convinced he could start from the beginning," Torri said of the number seven. Simone Valdarchi urged caution about Roma's championship credentials. "A good performance would lift you up even after a defeat," he said. "There's still a bit to go before the title contenders emerge. It's still too soon—maybe it won't take twenty matchdays as Gasperini says, but for now it's still too little, and it would still be too little even after Como."

Jordan Veretout, who left Roma in 2022 after three seasons, has expressed his enduring affection for the club and suggested he would be open to a return if the opportunity arose. Speaking on Retesport, the midfielder reflected on his time in giallorosso from 2019 to 2022, when he made 131 appearances, scored 22 goals and provided 16 assists. "Roma has remained in my heart," Veretout said. "When Roma calls me, I'm there." Veretout departed Rome to join Marseille, describing the move as the right moment after three years at the club. He emphasised the difficulty of leaving, particularly after winning the UEFA Europa Conference League with Roma in 2022. "We won the Conference, it was difficult to leave," he recalled. "For me it was the right moment to return to France—there was an offer from Marseille, a great team in France just as Roma is in Italy, and after three years it was the right time to leave." The midfielder praised current head coach Gian Piero Gasperini's style of play, describing it as "vertical, strong football with constant pressure." He suggested the system would have suited his characteristics. "I would have enjoyed playing under him, and when I was at Roma, Atalanta wanted me, so I believe manager Gasperini wanted me with him," Veretout said. He expressed hope that Roma can win the Serie A title this season and spoke fondly of fellow midfielder Manu Koné, a French compatriot. "I watch him with affection, I'm happy that he is doing well in giallorosso and I wish him success at Roma because it's special." Veretout recalled his finest moment in Roma colours as a penalty against Napoli, struck "under the Sud" with help from teammates Dzeko and Kolarov. He named Radja Nainggolan as his Serie A midfield idol. On his final months at Roma under José Mourinho, Veretout acknowledged a "good relationship" with the Portuguese manager but cited complications over contract renewal and a subsequent Marseille offer. "I had a good relationship with him. I don't know if it was him or the club first that caused me to play less—we talked about a renewal but we didn't reach an agreement, then the Marseille offer came. He was always very close to the players, he is and remains number one," Veretout reflected. Now based in Doha, Veretout stated he is doing well but acknowledged that football remains challenging. He emphasised family as his priority and joked that his wife wants to return to Rome's capital. "I'm not finished, I can still help if Roma wants me, I'm there," he said. Veretout spoke passionately about Roma's 2022 Conference League victory in Tirana, describing the subsequent celebrations at Rome's centre as unforgettable. "When we celebrated in the centre of Rome with thousands of supporters, even today I get chills—I show my son the images," he said. He maintained contact with former teammates including Gianluca Mancini, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Bryan Cristante, and paid tribute to Roma's supporters as "top in Europe for passion and warmth."

Radio pundits across Rome's major stations offered contrasting views on Roma's immediate prospects and Serie A title race as Gian Piero Gasperini's side prepares for a difficult run of fixtures. The central debate centred on Roma's chances against Como in the coming days and their broader credentials this season, with several voices backing the team to succeed despite midfield concerns. Lorenzo Pes argued that Roma has the tools to win both the Como match and later the Real Madrid fixture, though he cautioned against rushing Lorenzo Pellegrini back too soon. "I don't really expect Pellegrini to start, even though the Como match calls more for a trequartista," Pes said. "But putting a player who hasn't played since mid-April into a match that will be very intense doesn't seem wise." Mario Corsi framed Gasperini's anxiety around injury prevention as evidence of the manager's belief in the squad's potential. "Gasperini has a terror of losing players to injury," Corsi explained, "because he is convinced that this Roma with all its full complement can do something frightening. The injury to Cristante is not a tragedy; the tragedies would be injuries to Malen, Dybala or Svilar." Other contributors highlighted the volatility of post-international-break football. Fabio Petruzzi noted that both Como and Roma had individual duels to determine the outcome: "Where is the mismatch? Perhaps the head, how you prepare psychologically. I see Gasperini calm. He is a pain in the neck, in the good sense of the term, but he transmits tranquility to me; he seems like someone who knows he has something important in his hands." Alessio Nardo recalled Roma's poor record returning from breaks, citing defeats to Torino (0–1 in September), Inter (0–1 in October) and a 5–2 loss at San Siro in March of the previous season. On the title race, Roberto Pruzzo held firm to the view that Inter held a structural advantage despite a compressed table. "Despite the league being very tight at the moment, I still think Inter has 10 points of advantage over the others, but then it must put those points together and that isn't easy." Nando Orsi disagreed sharply, countering that Roma had nearly closed the gap and positioning the two teams as the likeliest contenders for the championship, with Como as a dark horse.

Roma return from international duty with most players available for Sunday's trip to Como, the first of two fixtures that will test Gasperini's squad before Real Madrid arrive at the Olimpico four days later. Manu Koné and Rodrigo Mora returned yesterday, while Leonardo Balerdi, Matías Soulé and Santiago Castro rejoin today after their commitments with Argentina's national team. Bryan Cristante remains sidelined by a knee ligament problem, opening the door for Marten de Roon to make his Roma debut from the start alongside Koné in midfield. The selection puzzle centres on the third attacking option alongside Donyell Malen and Paulo Dybala. Lorenzo Pellegrini, fully recovered after a long absence, is favoured by some outlets after training throughout the break at Trigoria. Others back Soulé despite his late return from Argentina, while Rodrigo Mora retains a genuine chance after being the most used Roma player during the international window, clocking 225 minutes and scoring an overhead kick for Portugal Under 21. Gasperini has three very different solutions competing for one shirt, with Real Madrid's proximity potentially influencing Sunday's starting lineup. Malen and Wesley have both cleared their respective injury problems and are expected to feature against Como without concern. The Brazilian should return as a starter on the flank, though a contest remains between Nahuel Molina and Emanuele Lulli for the opposite side. In defence, Evan N'Dicka appears to have a slight edge over Balerdi, having resumed regular training at Trigoria while Balerdi only returns today. Malen has scored six goals in the first five matches and carries a significant objective into the resumption: approaching the 36-goal records of Higuain and Immobile. He scored 20 Serie A goals in 2026 alone—more than any other player—and had found the net at the Sinigaglia last season before Como's comeback. Dybala has seized the break to work without interruption, transforming physically and delivering greater consistency: 497 minutes played, four assists and three goals created so far, though his own goal drought stretches back to 18 January. The technical duel between Dybala and Como's Nico Paz will be one of the match's most compelling threads. Gasperini and Como manager Cesc Fabregas represent opposite generations and contrasting approaches to attacking football. Fabregas seeks to control rhythm and possession; Gasperini favours intensity, pressure and direct play. They have nearly thirty years between them, stand respectively as Serie A's youngest and oldest managers, and have won two matches each in four previous meetings. Their recent encounters have produced friction—Gasperini objected to Fabregas's use of the goalkeeper in Como's build-up, while Fabregas criticised Gasperini's failure to greet him after one fixture. Sunday's fixture, arriving at only the sixth matchday, already carries weight in gauging both teams' ambitions.

Paulo Dybala will again lead Roma's attack on Sunday at Como as the club's most talented player, tasked with creating the decisive moments to unlock the opposition's defence. At 32, Dybala carries the creative burden of comparison with Lionel Messi and represents a different generation of South American talent—one almost eleven years younger than the Argentina legend. The forward arrives at the fixture in his fifth season in giallorosso colours, having played 497 minutes from the start of the 2026-27 campaign. Head coach Gasperini is now demanding more from Dybala beyond his well-known generosity and all-action presence. The focus is on more penetrative movements in the final third, more pace and dribbling, and more powerful shots on goal—particularly as Dybala chases an away goal after thirteen matches without one. Roma's 4-0 advantage in shots on Inter's goalkeeper Martinez during the pre-international break fixture offered encouraging signs of Dybala's attacking intent. He returns from a careful summer training regimen designed to sustain his performance against the passage of time, ready to face Como's side under Fabregas alongside youngster Nico Paz, operating on the attacking midfield line behind centre-forward Donyell Malen with Lorenzo Pellegrini presumably at his side.

Como–Roma will feature a clash between Paulo Dybala and Nico Paz, two Argentine stars of Serie A. The match pits the experienced Dybala against the younger Paz in a contest that extends beyond the pitch itself, representing a generational encounter between the two playmakers.