Roma demolish Fiorentina 4-0; Ryanair mocks viola over Hermoso incident

Roma travel to Como on Sunday at 12:30 for a top-of-the-table clash, with the Giallorossi level on points with Inter and Lazio at the summit. Head coach Gian Piero Gasperini has opted to hand a starting place to Portuguese midfielder Rodrigo Mora, class of 2007, in what appears a tactical gamble to break one of Roma's most stubborn curses: the club has not won at the Como ground overlooking Lake Como since 30 April 1989, when Manfredonia headed home at the second minute. Nearly 38 years have passed since that day. The three subsequent visits to Lario have all ended in defeat, most recently when Donyell Malen converted a seventh-minute penalty to put Roma ahead, only for Wesley's red card to leave the ten-men Giallorossi vulnerable to a Cesc Fabregas comeback. Gasperini tested new tactical solutions in a friendly against Sorianese (20-0), settling on a 3-4-1-2 shape designed to counter Fabregas's four-man defence and contain the opposing full-backs' central positioning. Mora, operating as a midfielder, offers the crucial link between midfield and attack through his quality in the final pass and the threat of distance shooting—both weapons aimed at unlocking Como's defensive block. Roma must also overturn a troubling pattern after international breaks: across the last two seasons, they have managed only two wins, one draw and five defeats in eight matches following national-team pauses. In the 2024-25 campaign, after drawing 1-1 at Genoa and losing 1-0 at home to both Inter and Napoli, Roma found victory only in spring under Claudio Ranieri with a 1-0 win at Lecce. Under Gasperini this season, home losses to Torino (0-1) and Inter (0-1) were sandwiched around a 3-1 victory over Cremonese, followed by a heavy 5-2 defeat at San Siro in April—a setback later overcome during the final push to third place and Champions League qualification.

Roma arrive at Como on Sunday 12 October for a Serie A fixture shadowed by one of their most stubborn taboos in Italian football. The Giallorossi have not won at the Sinigaglia since 30 April 1989, when Lionello Manfredonia's goal after two minutes sealed a 0–1 victory — a 37-year drought that requires context: Como spent long periods outside Serie A, and Roma have visited only twice since that day, losing 2–0 in December 2024 and 2–1 on 15 March 2026. A January 2003 encounter between the clubs, also a 2–0 Como win, was played on neutral ground at Piacenza's Garilli. Across 31 official meetings, Roma lead 16–8–7, but a striking pattern has emerged: none of the last ten Serie A clashes has ended in a draw, with Roma winning seven and Como three. The previous stalemate came on 18 January 1987, 0–0. Como's home record is particularly daunting — they have won their last three league matches at the Sinigaglia against Roma, scoring exactly two goals each time. Yet Roma enter the match on a remarkable run: they have won their last five away games in Serie A. A sixth consecutive away victory would be a rarity in the club's history; only once have Roma managed six or more consecutive away league wins, when they won 12 straight between February and November 2017. Roma's start to the 2026–27 season is also noteworthy — they have reached at least 13 points in their first five matches only five times in their history. A win at Como would take them to 16 points after six rounds, a tally reached only twice before: 18 points in 2013–14 and 16 in 1952–53. Both defences have been exceptional. Since last season began, Roma have conceded 34 goals and Como 35, the two best records in Serie A over that span; only Arsenal have done better across the five major European leagues, with 31 conceded. Offensively, neither team relies solely on defensive strength: Como have scored 74 goals and Roma 73 in the same period, making them the second and third-best attacks in Serie A behind Inter. Coach Gian Piero Gasperini stands at 299 Serie A victories; Sunday could deliver a landmark. Reaching 300 wins would make him only the fifth manager in the history of Italy's top flight to achieve that figure, after Giovanni Trapattoni, Massimiliano Allegri, Luciano Spalletti and Nereo Rocco. Donyell Malen has produced extraordinary numbers since his Roma debut in Serie A on 18 January 2026, scoring 20 goals in 23 appearances — more than any player in Europe's five major leagues in the same period; Harry Kane and Raphinha have 18. Among players with at least ten goals, Malen holds the best minutes-per-goal ratio in Serie A's three-points era: one goal every 91 minutes, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo at 104 and Ronaldo Nazário at 117. Roma's away form and attacking potency will be tested against Como's fortress at home and their own exceptional defensive record. The match kicks off at 12:30 on Sunday 12 October.

Roma return to the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday 13 October to face Real Madrid in a fixture charged with emotion both on and off the pitch. The match marks Mourinho's return to Rome and Roma's first Champions League home game in seven years. Gasperini will hold his pre-match press conference at Trigoria at 13:30 on Tuesday 13 October. The team will train at 15:00, with the session open to media for the first 15 minutes. Real Madrid will conduct their morning session in Spain before arriving in Rome in the afternoon. Mourinho's press conference will take place at the Olimpico at 18:00.

Gian Piero Gasperini has described Roma's defence as "a defence of gladiators", praising the unit built around Gianluca Mancini, Mario Hermoso and goalkeeper Mile Svilar. Over the last two seasons since Gasperini's arrival, Roma have conceded the fewest goals in Serie A—just 34—one fewer than Como, who have already shipped 6 goals in their opening five matches of the 2026-27 season compared to their tighter record last year. When the comparison expands to Europe's top five leagues over the same two-season span, only Arsenal have kept a cleaner sheet record. The Premier League side, managed by Mikel Arteta, have conceded 31 goals across that period and won the league title before reaching the final against PSG. The Arsenal benchmark carries particular weight given Roma's own improvement in attack this season: the Giallorossi have already scored 14 goals in their first five matches, a stark contrast to last season when they managed just 5 goals across the same point in the campaign.

Bryan Cristante will miss Roma's away fixture against Como this weekend due to a knee problem. The midfielder has been Gasperini's most-used outfield player so far this season but is working to accelerate his recovery, targeting a return to the squad for the Champions League match against Real Madrid on 14 October. The Como–Roma clash pits two of Serie A's best-resourced ownership groups against each other. The Hartono family have invested approximately €390 million in Como's project, while Dan Friedkin has already exceeded €1 billion in Roma investment since 2020, reaching €1.06 billion when combining the club's acquisition and financial support. Roma's losses have fallen significantly from €219 million in 2021–22 to €54 million in 2024–25. The club remains committed to its new stadium project at Pietralata, scheduled for completion in 2029. The match is shaping up to be an international affair, with only one Italian—Gianluca Mancini—potentially among the 22 starting players, representing 13 different nationalities. Gasperini is evaluating Rodrigo Mora as a possible surprise inclusion, with the midfielder's stock rising particularly because Matías Soulé only returned to full training yesterday and will train with the group today alongside Santiago Castro and Leonardo Balerdi. In defence, the trio of Mancini, Evan N'Dicka and Mario Hermoso is expected to return.

Como and Roma will take the field at the Sinigaglia with a combined squad representing thirteen different nationalities, a striking illustration of Serie A's globalization. Among the twenty-two starting players, Gianluca Mancini could be the only Italian on the pitch, a detail that underscores how heavily Italian clubs now lean on international recruitment. The match will pit Cesc Fabregas's Como side, built around a Spanish core including Milla, Ramon, Valle and Roma's Mario Hermoso, against Gian Piero Gasperini's Roma—a tactical and mental duel of the highest calibre. The broader context reveals that nearly 72 per cent of players deployed across Serie A so far this season are foreign, confirming the league's decisive shift towards international profiles. Both Como and Roma maintain some of the youngest average ages in Italian football despite their cosmopolitan squads. The encounter promises individual battles throughout the pitch: Wesley and Couto's pace against the craft of Paulo Dybala and Nico Paz. With international breaks forcing late team evaluations, Gasperini faces decisions including a possible move to deploy young Rodrigo Mora in an attacking midfield role. The Sinigaglia is preparing to reveal the true alternative to Inter in the title race.