Roma name 24-man UEFA squad for Champions League league phase

Roma will make their Champions League debut for seven years when they travel to Istanbul to face Fenerbahçe on 8 September, their first taste of Europe's premier competition since March 2019. After winning their opening three Serie A matches, Gian Piero Gasperini's side returns to the tournament that has been absent from the Stadio Olimpico since the 2018–19 season, when Roma last played in it away to Porto in the round of 16 under Eusebio Di Francesco. The gulf between then and now is vast: that side held De Rossi as captain and featured Dzeko, Kolarov, Marcano, Manolas, Juan Jesus and Karsdorp in defence. Today, Roma take the pitch with fresh momentum and a manager ready for his 35th Champions League bench. For Gasperini, Istanbul marks a return to the tournament after his Atalanta years. Across 34 previous Champions League matches as a coach, his record stands at 12 victories, 9 draws and 13 defeats. His sole previous campaign outside Atalanta came in 2011 on Inter's bench, when he lost 1–0 to Trabzonspor at San Siro. Atalanta provided all 33 other appearances, including his finest hour: the 2019–20 quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain, a result that stings still. Atalanta had led 1–0 thanks to Pasalic until the 90th minute, before Marquinhos and Choupo-Moting scored at 90 and 93 minutes respectively. His last Champions League outing was the playoff elimination against Club Brugge in the 2024–25 season, a 5–2 aggregate defeat. For Fenerbahçe, the wait has been even longer: 18 years since they last featured in the group phase, which was the 2008–09 season. Roma's drought has lasted seven years, their previous fixture coming on 6 March 2019, a 3–1 loss after extra time to Porto. Across all European competitions, Roma have played 111 matches, recording 41 victories, 27 draws and 43 defeats, with their finest hour the 1984 European Cup final against Liverpool, decided on penalties. Fenerbahçe's best European run reached the quarter-finals in 2007–08, when they beat Chelsea 2–1 at home before elimination. The two clubs have never met in an official fixture; their only previous encounter was a friendly on 19 August 2014 at the Olimpico, which finished 3–3 before 35,000 spectators in Roma's pre-season presentation under Rudi Garcia. Totti opened the scoring from a penalty at 26 minutes; Bruno Alves equalised from a free-kick six minutes later. Kuyt and Sow put Fenerbahçe 3–1 up in the second half before Mattia Destro's double at 82 and 86 minutes secured a draw. Salih Uçan, who had transferred from Fenerbahçe to Roma weeks before, appeared for Roma in that second half. Romelu Lukaku, who spent one season at Roma as their centre-forward two years ago, will lead Fenerbahçe's attack. He scored 21 goals in 47 appearances for Roma—13 in Serie A, 7 in the Europa League and 1 in the Coppa Italia—under both Mourinho and De Rossi before joining Napoli. Mason Greenwood, the English forward who came close to signing for Roma this summer before Fenerbahçe's intervention secured his services with a substantial offer, will also feature. Mattéo Guendouzi, the French midfielder, is suspended for four match days by UEFA—two of them suspended for a year—following the incident in the playoff against Lyon, and will miss Roma's visit and the subsequent match against Aston Villa. Vedat Muriqi, the Kosovo striker who returned to Fenerbahçe after a spell at Mallorca, has already scored three goals in seven appearances this season, including the decisive strike in a 2–1 win over Lyon that sealed qualification. Jayden Oosterwolde, the defender, was due to join Roma after arriving at Ciampino on 25 August, but a medical examination revealed a serious issue with his left thigh beyond the initial diagnosis. After Roma attempted to renegotiate and Fenerbahçe refused, he returned to Istanbul and underwent surgery in Finland on 1 September; he will watch from the sidelines.

Fenerbahçe will host Roma in the opening match of the Champions League league phase on Thursday at 18.45 at the Şükrü Saraçoğlu Stadium in Istanbul. The Turkish side face the fixture with several significant absences. Mateo Guendouzi is suspended after events at the final whistle of the Lyon–Fenerbahçe Champions League preliminary tie, serving four matches of which two carry a suspended sentence; he will miss the Roma debut. Mason Greenwood is available despite a one-match ban with a suspended punishment running for a year. Marco Asensio remains unavailable after an injury sustained two weeks ago. The former Real Madrid forward has ruled out a cruciate ligament rupture following speculation in Turkey but did not feature in Fenerbahçe's match against Beşiktaş. His condition will continue to be assessed. Fenerbahçe manager Kartal will pursue full recovery of Akturkoglu and aim to build match fitness for Romelu Lukaku, though Oosterwolde faces an extended absence following surgery. Training continued on 7 September ahead of the Thursday fixture.

Roma's radio stations have given their verdicts on Saturday's victory over Atalanta, with commentators split between praising the performance and assessing the squad's depth ahead of the Champions League debut on Thursday. Piero Torri of Radio Manà Manà said: "For now Roma are on full points alongside Inter, and these are certainly positive responses. From now until December it will all be a question of injuries: if Roma are not hit by injuries, their squad is sufficient. In any case, Pisilli and Rensch remained on the bench on Saturday, then Pellegrini will return. Without excessive problems, then, the squad is sufficient; in January you can possibly fine-tune something at a quantitative level. In any case, you have 21 players, and good ones too: if you put them on the pitch you don't have a collapse in quality." Torri added that when a team functions well, a player rated 6 can look like an 8. Francesco Balzani highlighted Balerdi's impact as a substitute, calling it "decisive" and praising the victory as "a win in the Mourinho style with Gasperini's football." Antonio Felici stressed that the win over Atalanta showed Roma can succeed even when facing difficulty in the 90 minutes, representing "the victory of self-awareness." Simone Valdarchi echoed the praise for Gasperini's tactical substitutions, saying Balerdi in particular "changed the inertia of the match" and allowed Roma to escape the difficulties created by Krstović and return to dominating play. Nando Orsi noted Roma have scored 10 goals so far and represent "a complete team where everyone can score," calling them underperformers on 9 points in the league table. Lorenzo Pes said Gasperini's next step is convincing Dybala he can score again, noting the striker will want to feature in Thursday's Champions League debut.

Roma return to the Stadio Olimpico this evening to face Atalanta, managed by Maurizio Sarri, as the Giallorossi look to extend their unbeaten start after two opening-day wins. Head coach Gian Piero Gasperini has selected his strongest available squad for the fixture. Gasperini deploys a three-at-the-back formation with Svilar in goal and a back line of Mancini, N'Dicka and Hermoso. Wesley and Lulli operate on the flanks, with Lulli making his third consecutive start, while Cristante and Koné form the midfield pairing. Rodrigo Mora takes the number 10 role behind the front pair of Malen and Paulo Dybala. Roma's substitutes bench includes De Marzi, Gollini, Rensch, Ghilardi, Koulierakis, Castro, De Roon, Molina, Balerdi, Soulé, Arena and Pisilli. Atalanta line up in a 4-3-3 formation: Carnesecchi; Bellanova, Koussonou, Scalvini, Kolasinac; Samardzic, Gaetano, Éderson; De Ketelaere, Scamacca, Elmas.

Roma came from behind to beat Atalanta 2–1 on 5 September, with goals from Mario Hermoso in the 90th minute and Matías Soulé in the 93rd turning the match after Éderson had put the visitors ahead in the 47th. Gasperini's Roma dominated the opening two Serie A fixtures against Fiorentina and Lecce without conceding, and the manager named a side with Evan N'Dicka returning from a muscular problem to anchor the defence alongside Gianluca Mancini and Mario Hermoso. Bryan Cristante and Manu Koné were paired in midfield, with Emanuele Lulli and Wesley holding the flanks. Rodrigo Mora operated behind the front two: Paulo Dybala and Donyell Malen started in attack. The victory keeps Roma's unbeaten start intact ahead of their Champions League debut on Thursday against Fenerbahce. Gasperini had Daniele Ghilardi, Leonardo Balerdi, Nahuel Molina, Soulé, Santiago Castro, Marten de Roon, Niccolò Pisilli, Pierluigi Gollini, Giorgio De Marzi and Jan Ziółkowski among his substitutes. Atalanta, managed by Maurizio Sarri, fielded Matteo Carnesecchi in goal and included substitutions involving Gianluca Scamacza (replaced in the 46th minute), Kolasinac, Éderson, Alexei Kolasinac and Jérémie Zappacosta. The match was refereed by Colombo, with assistants Bahri and Palermo; the fourth official was Collu, VAR Camplone and assistant VAR Santoro. Bellanova received a yellow card in the 83rd minute for Atalanta.

Gian Piero Gasperini has named his squad for Roma's Serie A matchday 3 fixture against Atalanta. Lorenzo Pellegrini remains unavailable, but Paulo Dybala and Evan N'Dicka are fit to feature. Arena is also included in the travelling party. Gasperini has 23 players at his disposal across all positions. The goalkeeping options are Mile Svilar, Giorgio De Marzi and Pierluigi Gollini. The defensive unit comprises Devyne Rensch, Konstantinos Koulierakis, N'Dicka, Nahuel Molina, Mario Hermoso, Gianluca Mancini, Leonardo Balerdi, Wesley, Emanuele Lulli and Daniele Ghilardi. Midfield depth includes Bryan Cristante, Marten de Roon, Manu Koné, Niccolò Pisilli and Rodrigo Mora. The attacking contingent features Santiago Castro, Donyell Malen, Matías Soulé, Dybala and Arena.

Roma return to the Stadio Olimpico this evening to face Atalanta, managed by Maurizio Sarri, as the Giallorossi look to extend their unbeaten start after two opening-day wins. Head coach Gian Piero Gasperini has selected his strongest available squad for the fixture. Gasperini deploys a three-at-the-back formation with Svilar in goal and a back line of Mancini, N'Dicka and Hermoso. Wesley and Lulli operate on the flanks, with Lulli making his third consecutive start, while Cristante and Koné form the midfield pairing. Rodrigo Mora takes the number 10 role behind the front pair of Malen and Paulo Dybala. Roma's substitutes bench includes De Marzi, Gollini, Rensch, Ghilardi, Koulierakis, Castro, De Roon, Molina, Balerdi, Soulé, Arena and Pisilli. Atalanta line up in a 4-3-3 formation: Carnesecchi; Bellanova, Koussonou, Scalvini, Kolasinac; Samardzic, Gaetano, Éderson; De Ketelaere, Scamacca, Elmas.

Roma came from behind to beat Atalanta 2–1 on 5 September, with goals from Mario Hermoso in the 90th minute and Matías Soulé in the 93rd turning the match after Éderson had put the visitors ahead in the 47th. Gasperini's Roma dominated the opening two Serie A fixtures against Fiorentina and Lecce without conceding, and the manager named a side with Evan N'Dicka returning from a muscular problem to anchor the defence alongside Gianluca Mancini and Mario Hermoso. Bryan Cristante and Manu Koné were paired in midfield, with Emanuele Lulli and Wesley holding the flanks. Rodrigo Mora operated behind the front two: Paulo Dybala and Donyell Malen started in attack. The victory keeps Roma's unbeaten start intact ahead of their Champions League debut on Thursday against Fenerbahce. Gasperini had Daniele Ghilardi, Leonardo Balerdi, Nahuel Molina, Soulé, Santiago Castro, Marten de Roon, Niccolò Pisilli, Pierluigi Gollini, Giorgio De Marzi and Jan Ziółkowski among his substitutes. Atalanta, managed by Maurizio Sarri, fielded Matteo Carnesecchi in goal and included substitutions involving Gianluca Scamacza (replaced in the 46th minute), Kolasinac, Éderson, Alexei Kolasinac and Jérémie Zappacosta. The match was refereed by Colombo, with assistants Bahri and Palermo; the fourth official was Collu, VAR Camplone and assistant VAR Santoro. Bellanova received a yellow card in the 83rd minute for Atalanta.

Gian Piero Gasperini has named his squad for Roma's Serie A matchday 3 fixture against Atalanta. Lorenzo Pellegrini remains unavailable, but Paulo Dybala and Evan N'Dicka are fit to feature. Arena is also included in the travelling party. Gasperini has 23 players at his disposal across all positions. The goalkeeping options are Mile Svilar, Giorgio De Marzi and Pierluigi Gollini. The defensive unit comprises Devyne Rensch, Konstantinos Koulierakis, N'Dicka, Nahuel Molina, Mario Hermoso, Gianluca Mancini, Leonardo Balerdi, Wesley, Emanuele Lulli and Daniele Ghilardi. Midfield depth includes Bryan Cristante, Marten de Roon, Manu Koné, Niccolò Pisilli and Rodrigo Mora. The attacking contingent features Santiago Castro, Donyell Malen, Matías Soulé, Dybala and Arena.

Roma return to the Champions League for the first time in seven years on Thursday 10 September, travelling to Istanbul to face Fenerbahce in the League Phase's first matchday with a 18:45 kickoff. The match will be broadcast on Sky Sport and available to subscribers via Sky Go. Gasperini's side arrive in buoyant form after a 2–1 comeback win against Atalanta in Serie A, where Hermoso and Soulé scored in the closing stages, and have won their opening three league matches. Roma are expected to line up in a 3–4–2–1 formation with Svilar in goal, a back three of Mancini, N'Dicka and Hermoso, Wesley and Molina as full-backs, Cristante and Koné in midfield, and Dybala and Soulé supporting lone striker Malen. Molina and N'Dicka remain in contention with alternatives, and the squad picture will become clearer in training over the coming days. Lorenzo Pellegrini is almost certain to remain absent. Fenerbahce will be without Guendouzi, the former Lazio midfielder, who is serving a four-match suspension (two of which are conditional) following a fight during their qualifier against Lyon. The Turkish side reached the League Phase unbeaten through the preliminaries, eliminating Górnik Zabrze, Sturm Graz and Lyon, though they suffered a recent domestic setback when losing the derby to Besiktas after wins over Konyaspor and Samsunspor. In European competition they remain unbeaten across seven matches. Their probable lineup shows Ederson in goal, Semedo, Škriniar, Aké and Brown across the defence, Kanté and Yüksek in midfield, and Asensio, Aktürkoğlu and Nene behind striker Lukaku. This will be the first official meeting between the two clubs. Fenerbahce have won their last three home matches against Serie A sides without conceding, the most recent a 2–0 victory over Lazio in the 2012–13 Europa League quarter-finals. Official team lineups will be announced approximately one hour before kickoff, around 17:45 Italian time.

Matías Soulé's goal set the Olimpico alight in Roma's 96-minute encounter against Atalanta, a moment goalkeeper Mile Svilar chose to immortalise by posting a video on social media of the stadium erupting. The clip carried the caption "Giallorossi madness" — two words Svilar felt best captured what unfolded at the ground. The most telling moment came after Ederson's goal. Rather than crumble, Gasperini's Roma side held their composure, never surrendered and continued to believe until the final whistle. That response reveals much about this new Roma — a squad that may finally have learned not to give up. Svilar, watching from the sidelines in those closing stages, wanted to record the exact instant the Olimpico exploded: Soulé's strike, the roar, and a wave of giallorossi fervour that swept everyone along, including the goalkeeper himself.

Roma came from behind to beat Atalanta 2–1 in a third-round Serie A match at the Stadio Olimpico. Ederson had given Atalanta the lead, but Mario Hermoso levelled with a header before Matías Soulé sealed the victory after coming on as a substitute. Head coach Gian Piero Gasperini earned praise for his tactical adjustments, with Soulé providing an assist before scoring the winning goal in a high-tempo performance. The win carried significant weight in the title race. Hermoso was reliable in defence and decisive in attack despite occasional lapses in possession, while Bryan Cristante and Manu Koné anchored the midfield with solid contributions. Evan N'Dicka returned to the squad after absence and proved a reliable point in the back line, dealing with Atalanta's attacking threat. Paulo Dybala remained a constant reference point, though he did not find the net. Rodrigo Mora was central to Roma's play, providing a precise assist for Gianluca Mancini early on—a chance Mancini squandered—and frequently attempting shots, though accuracy was lacking. Leonardo Balerdi made an impressive debut, replacing N'Dicka from the 67th minute and playing with personality to render Atalanta's Mateo Krstovic ineffective, earning deserved applause. Daniele Ghilardi came on from the 63rd minute and brought intensity and aggression. Emanuele Lulli showed promise with good intensity but needs to improve his crossing. Nahuel Molina replaced him from the 54th minute and made a more substantial impact. Donyell Malen, despite drawing constant double coverage from Atalanta's defence and coming close in the first half, did not score. Santiago Castro, introduced from the 63rd minute, struck the post and crossbar but could not break through; Gasperini noted he is growing and deserves time, suggesting he has the quality needed. Mile Svilar made a routine save in the first half and was beaten by Ederson's powerful shot in the second. Cristante repeatedly threatened with his heading ability but could not convert.