Paz and Soulé: Argentina's future takes shape in a WhatsApp group

Roma travel to Como for a Serie A sixth-round match that has taken on major significance early in the 2026-27 season. Gasperini's side sit top of the table on 13 points after drawing 2-2 with Inter, while Como have accumulated 10 points and are chasing ground. The two clubs are emerging as the only realistic challengers to Inter's dominance this season. Roma will be without Bryan Cristante and must reshuffle their midfield, with Marten de Roon stepping in alongside Manu Koné. Como, managed by Fabregas, are also dealing with an absence—Moise Kean is out, leaving Douvikas to lead their attack once again.

Rodrigo Mora has emerged as a contender for a starting berth on the attack ahead of Roma's visit to Como on 11 October at 12:30, with his recent overhead-kick goal for Portugal Under 21 catching the eye of head coach Gian Piero Gasperini and supporters alike. The young midfielder from Porto is in sharp form and poses a direct threat to Matías Soulé's place in the side. Soulé is hampered by fatigue from a long journey back from Argentina and sparse training time, raising the prospect he may begin on the bench alongside Leonardo Balerdi to allow fresher legs into the line-up. Should Mora start, he would complete a front three alongside Paulo Dybala and Donyell Malen. Dybala remains fully available after Roma firmly blocked his departure for Argentina's farewell match for retiring Messi, keeping the forward at the club's Trigoria training ground to concentrate entirely on the league campaign and title contention. The midfielder picture is complicated by Bryan Cristante's knee injury, opening a contest between the experience of Marten de Roon and the attacking thrust of Niccolò Pisilli. De Roon appears favoured to provide defensive balance, though Pisilli offers running power and forward involvement.

Roma travel to Como on Saturday 10 October 2026 in a fixture that carries multiple subplots. The match will pit Wesley, Roma's Brazilian defender, against Como's Yan Couto, another Brazilian fullback operating as an attacking outlet. Both remain without a goal this season but have featured for Brazil's senior squad—Couto with 4 appearances and Wesley with 8. The encounter at the Sinigaglia will serve as a meaningful indicator ahead of Carlo Ancelotti's future selections for the national team. Coach Gian Piero Gasperini stands on the brink of a significant milestone: victory would deliver his 300th win in Serie A, a threshold previously crossed only by Trapattoni, Allegri, Spalletti and Rocco—all of whom won the Scudetto. Roma's record against Como in the last ten Serie A meetings offers encouragement: they have never drawn, winning seven times and losing three. The midfield and attacking line remain in flux, with Matías Soulé, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Rodrigo Mora competing for the attacking midfield role; Soulé has returned from international duty but remains in contention for the starting lineup. Paulo Dybala and Como's Nico Paz will showcase an Argentine dimension to the match. Dybala arrives with 4 assists but without a goal in the season so far, while Paz has scored once and supplied one assist. Forward Donyell Malen and Como's Christos Douvikas share a formative Dutch connection: Malen developed through PSV's academy and became the club's second-youngest player in history to score at least 10 goals in three consecutive seasons by age 22. Douvikas established himself at Utrecht with 32 goals in 77 matches before winning the Eredivisie's top-scorer award in 2022–23 with 19 goals.