Pellegrini fit for Istanbul as Roma prepare Champions League debut

Gian Piero Gasperini is standing by Rodrigo Mora despite a recent dip in the young Portuguese's form, with the coach and the club viewing the slowdown as a normal part of his development rather than a cause for concern. The Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Mora is now handling the step up in level and the pressure of a demanding Roman crowd, with his form having dipped in recent weeks after a promising start to the season. Mora's performances against Genoa and Slovan Bratislava were described as hesitant, with some errors in front of goal slowing his progress and leaving him temporarily behind a more consistent and convincing Matías Soulé. Gasperini is carefully weighing how to use him ahead of the tricky trip to Napoli at the Maradona. The club's position, however, remains clear: Mora is an important investment and must be protected. He is young, has obvious quality and needs time to complete his physical and tactical development. There is no rush and no alarm, only a determination to develop him the right way. The report stresses that Mora arrived in Rome through a complex transfer operation handled by the Friedkin group. The club's approach is to be patient and manage his workload carefully rather than drop him over a few poor displays, with the focus on giving him the time he needs to mature into a key figure for the club.

Matías Soulé has been entrusted with Roma's attacking play for the trip to the Maradona, with Gian Piero Gasperini relying on him as the last available genuine creative option. Paulo Dybala is absent, and Lorenzo Pellegrini is injured, leaving the attack severely depleted for what is billed as a championship supermatch. According to Il Messaggero, Roma are rallying around their last available true playmaker. With the injury list full and the attack stripped bare, Gasperini is placing his faith entirely in Soulé, who must carry the team in a setting that holds particular meaning for him. It was at Napoli a year ago that his outstanding start to the previous season was abruptly halted by a fierce groin injury (pubalgia), which forced months of pain, time on the bench and rest after a start of seven goals and seven assists. Despite a summer dominated by transfer speculation and the possibility of a sale, Soulé has won back the trust of the club's environment and reclaimed his place in the side through his performances. Now, without his usual partners, he is ready to take centre stage: he must play in Donyell Malen and lead the team on a night that carries the feel of a major test.

Rodrigo Mora is being handed greater responsibility after Lorenzo Pellegrini's injury, which could keep the midfielder out until 2027 with a high-grade tear to his right thigh. Roma face Napoli at the Maradona tomorrow, and Mora is set to play alongside Matías Soulé behind centre-forward Donyell Malen, as Paulo Dybala is also sidelined with a calf injury. Coach Gian Piero Gasperini must now reshape his plan for Mora, whose game time has so far been gradual. In Serie A he has played an average of 46 minutes per match, according to Niccolò Maurelli writing in Repubblica. Mora now wants to take control of the attacking department and become Malen's new focal point. The two already share a strong understanding, as shown against Real at the Olimpico, when the Portuguese set up the striker for the goal that made it 2-1 for the time being. Mora will need to quickly absorb the tactical idea of the coach, who wants him to be more decisive in front of goal.

Lorenzo Pellegrini's injury threatens to reshape Roma's January transfer plans, with sporting director Tony D'Amico now seen as needing to strengthen the attacking department almost by necessity. D'Amico had already admitted at the close of the summer window that the squad was numerically short: "Numerically we are slightly short, one player is missing." Since then the situation has worsened. Paulo Dybala continues to have physical problems, Pellegrini faces a very long spell out, and Gian Piero Gasperini has very few usable men in the final third. One signing may no longer be enough. Roma will certainly look for an attacking winger capable of beating a man, attacking depth and providing the vertical presence Gasperini had requested during the summer. If the physical issues continue to limit rotation, D'Amico could even look to bring two attacking players to Trigoria. The problem goes beyond the starters. Gasperini has Donyell Malen and Santiago Castro as centre-forwards and Matías Soulé and Rodrigo Mora as the main options in behind them, but depth behind them has become very thin. Niccolò Pisilli and Bryan Cristante could be adapted further forward and Wesley could be pushed up, but these moves leave other areas of the pitch exposed. The January window will therefore no longer simply add to a competitive side; it must correct a structural gap in the squad. A quality winger was already considered a priority after attempts that fell through late in the summer, and the need is now more pressing. The names being tracked remain several. Jamie Gittens continues to be one of the profiles admired, as does Jamie Leweling, who was pursued until the final days of the summer window. Khvicha Kvernadze also remains on the radar as a player monitored for his characteristics and potential. Gasperini asked for depth. Injuries are making that request even more urgent, and January, rather than a simple window to complete the summer's work, risks becoming a decisive juncture for the second half of Roma's season.

Roma travel to Napoli with their attack severely depleted, and Gian Piero Gasperini must decide whether to start Rodrigo Mora or move Bryan Cristante behind Donyell Malen for Saturday's clash at the Maradona. The injuries to Paulo Dybala and Lorenzo Pellegrini have removed two key players from the final third at the same time, while Manu Koné is still sidelined. Moving a midfielder further forward therefore means thinning out another area of the team. Mora is the more natural option. He is one of the few specialist attacking midfielders still available, and although his talent is obvious, he is still adapting to the demands of Italian football, Gasperini's tactical requirements and a system that asks a great deal of players without the ball. He did not manage to make the impact he would have liked against Slovan, but the emergency could offer him a major opportunity. The alternative is Cristante, who has just returned from injury. He could be deployed a few metres further forward, a position he knows well, which would give Roma more physicality, runs into the box and presence in the central zone. Among midfielders who can adapt to the final third, Cristante appears to have a slightly better chance than Niccolò Pisilli. In that case, Pisilli would stay alongside Marten de Roon in midfield, avoiding further weakening a unit already without Koné. It is a more conservative choice in terms of balance, but it would still allow Gasperini to add weight and experience behind the striker. Up front, there appear to be no doubts about Matías Soulé and Malen. The Argentine remains the main creative reference, while the Dutchman will again lead the attack. Santiago Castro is practically the only natural alternative to the centre-forward, and there remains a possibility, perhaps once the match is under way, of seeing both strikers on the pitch together. However, the starting line-up tells only part of the problem. Roma arrive in Naples with very few options to change the shape of their attacking play during the game, and that is the aspect that concerns Gasperini most on the eve of a period in which fixtures will follow one another without pause.

Lorenzo Pellegrini's injury looks set to keep him out for far longer than first feared, with at least three months on the sidelines and a return to action not expected before 2027. The diagnosis is a high-grade injury at the distal musculotendinous junction of the semitendinosus in his right thigh, which Roma are reportedly considering treating surgically. The club is awaiting further specialist assessments before deciding. The timeline is a far cry from the 20 days Gasperini suggested straight after the Roma-Slovan Bratislava match. The location of the injury is the main concern, as the problem sits near the knee where the semitendinosus joins its tendon, a particularly delicate area that requires more caution than a standard muscle-belly injury. If surgery is chosen, it would further extend his recovery, and the season could be over. This is another serious setback for Pellegrini, who has only recently returned to availability. He had already missed the summer preparation because of an earlier physical problem and had only recently started to win back minutes and consistency under Gasperini. The injury leaves Gasperini facing a problem he had repeatedly flagged as one of the season's main risks. The attacking department has suddenly become very short. Pellegrini is set to be out for a long time, Dybala is still sidelined, and rotation options in the final third are reduced to practically Soulé and Mora, with Pisilli or Cristante possibly pushed forward and the option of using Malen and Castro together. Gasperini had said clearly after the Slovan match: "If we don't recover Dybala quickly, we'll become really short of players." At that time the extent of Pellegrini's injury was not yet known, and the remark now carries even more weight. The consequences extend to the January transfer market. Roma had already planned a new signing to strengthen mainly the attack, but Pellegrini's long absence may further change the priorities of Tony D'Amico. A market that a few weeks ago looked set to add quality now risks becoming necessary in numerical terms too. At least one attacking reinforcement will be needed to immediately widen Gasperini's options, and depending on how the infirmary evolves, Roma may be forced to do more. January therefore becomes a fundamental stage in building the squad, as facing the second half of the season with so few alternatives up front would be a difficult risk to sustain.

Matías Soulé has been entrusted with Roma's attacking play for the trip to the Maradona, with Gian Piero Gasperini relying on him as the last available genuine creative option. Paulo Dybala is absent, and Lorenzo Pellegrini is injured, leaving the attack severely depleted for what is billed as a championship supermatch. According to Il Messaggero, Roma are rallying around their last available true playmaker. With the injury list full and the attack stripped bare, Gasperini is placing his faith entirely in Soulé, who must carry the team in a setting that holds particular meaning for him. It was at Napoli a year ago that his outstanding start to the previous season was abruptly halted by a fierce groin injury (pubalgia), which forced months of pain, time on the bench and rest after a start of seven goals and seven assists. Despite a summer dominated by transfer speculation and the possibility of a sale, Soulé has won back the trust of the club's environment and reclaimed his place in the side through his performances. Now, without his usual partners, he is ready to take centre stage: he must play in Donyell Malen and lead the team on a night that carries the feel of a major test.

Rodrigo Mora is being handed greater responsibility after Lorenzo Pellegrini's injury, which could keep the midfielder out until 2027 with a high-grade tear to his right thigh. Roma face Napoli at the Maradona tomorrow, and Mora is set to play alongside Matías Soulé behind centre-forward Donyell Malen, as Paulo Dybala is also sidelined with a calf injury. Coach Gian Piero Gasperini must now reshape his plan for Mora, whose game time has so far been gradual. In Serie A he has played an average of 46 minutes per match, according to Niccolò Maurelli writing in Repubblica. Mora now wants to take control of the attacking department and become Malen's new focal point. The two already share a strong understanding, as shown against Real at the Olimpico, when the Portuguese set up the striker for the goal that made it 2-1 for the time being. Mora will need to quickly absorb the tactical idea of the coach, who wants him to be more decisive in front of goal.

Rodrigo Mora is set to be handed a starting role for Roma's difficult away trip to Napoli at the Maradona, with Lorenzo Pellegrini injured and Paulo Dybala continuing to struggle with physical problems. According to La Repubblica, the emergency that has decimated Roma's attack gives the young Portuguese playmaker the chance to become a central figure on the night. Mora is expected to line up alongside Matías Soulé in the attacking midfield behind Donyell Malen. Until now he has been eased in gradually and has played only a handful of minutes in the league. He will need to show the maturity required to carry the weight of Roma's build-up play, and he can build on the understanding he has already shown with Malen in Europe against Real Madrid. To strengthen the trust of Gian Piero Gasperini, Mora must also improve in front of goal, increasing his effectiveness and adding to his goal tally. It is an important test, and a night that could mark his definitive arrival at the heart of the Giallorossi project. The report puts Mora's opportunity squarely in the context of Roma's injury problems in attack. Pellegrini's absence and Dybala's recurring fitness issues have left Gasperini with limited options, and the match at the Maradona is a demanding assignment for a player still building his place in the side.