The Roman Report — 11 May 2026 – 17 May 2026

There are weeks in football that remind you exactly why this sport holds such a terrifying, wonderful power over people, and the drama at the Stadio Tardini on Sunday was precisely that kind of week. Roma were dead. Not struggling, not uncomfortable — dead, trailing Parma with the clock running out, looking at another damaging dropped points just when the stakes could not be higher. And then, in the manner of a club that has always seemed to court theatre the way other clubs court stability, they came back. Donyell Malen brilliant, Paulo Dybala doing what Dybala does when the occasion demands something beautiful, and Devyne Rensch — a substitute, barely on the pitch — writing himself into the match with a goal and then winning the penalty in the 101st minute that settled the whole glorious mess. When the full-back posted "Roma never dies" in capital letters on Instagram afterwards, with those yellow and red hearts, it felt less like social media noise and more like a sincere declaration of faith. Because Roma really do refuse to stay down, and in moments like these, you are reminded that this team, for all its frustrations, has a pulse that beats fast and loud.

Of course, it would not be Roma if the aftermath arrived without controversy, and the penalty that won the match has predictably stirred a hornets' nest. Paolo Di Canio, flanked on Sky Sport by Marchegiani and De Grandis — three men who spent their careers draped in Lazio blue — queued up to express their doubts about whether Rensch had actually been fouled, or had instead thrown himself to the floor. Di Canio delivered his verdict with the kind of theatrical certainty he always does, suggesting the contact was from Rensch pulling on his opponent rather than the other way around. Costacurta and Bergomi saw it differently and defended the referee's call. I will leave the television debate there, except to say that when actor Luca Zingaretti pointedly asked whether a panel of three ex-Lazio figures could be trusted to assess a Roma penalty fairly, he was asking a question that needed asking. With the Derby della Capitale arriving next weekend, the optics of that particular studio arrangement were, to put it charitably, unfortunate. Rensch went for it. In the modern game, at 2–1 down in added time, you go for it. That is not cynicism, that is survival.

What the Parma ratings made clear, though, is that this victory cannot become a fig leaf for the defensive problems that have been accumulating all season. Gianluca Mancini, Hermoso and Matías Soulé were savaged across the Italian press, most outlets placing them in the fives, and honestly it is hard to argue with the assessment. Developing a habit of conceding two goals before launching a comeback in stoppage time is not a sustainable way to approach football matches, particularly not when Champions League qualification is the prize on the table. Gasperini earned some deserved credit for his substitutions — getting Rensch on at the right moment was decisive and showed the tactical instinct that makes him such a compelling coach — but there will need to be a serious conversation about the defensive shape before Sunday, because Lazio will punish the kind of lapses Parma were able to exploit.

Off the pitch, the club continues to search for a sporting director, with Cristiano Giaretta the latest name to surface alongside Sogliano and D'Amico. It is a search that has gone on long enough to cause some anxiety among the fanbase, and rightly so. Gasperini needs a football structure around him that functions efficiently, a director who can think clearly about squad building rather than simply reacting to whatever crisis presents itself. Getting this appointment right matters enormously for what the club builds next, and the urgency should not be underestimated. Meanwhile, Roberto Pruzzo — a man whose love for Roma and instincts about the club I have always respected — has been warning loudly that a return to the Conference League would represent a genuine regression in ambition. He is correct, and those words should be pinned to the wall of every decision-maker at Trigoria. The Europa League feels like the floor, not the ceiling, and that has to be the starting point for every contract decision, every transfer target, every conversation about what Roma are trying to become.

Which brings us, inescapably, to Paulo Dybala. Torri has come out in favour of extending his contract despite the financial complications involved, and I find myself in full agreement. Whatever the reservations about wages and injury history, what Dybala does to this football club — to the supporters, to the dressing room, to the quality of everything around him when he is fit and engaged — is irreplaceable in any straightforward accounting. The man was at the heart of the Parma comeback. He is always at the heart of it. You do not let that go lightly.

The kick-off time for the Derby della Capitale remains unconfirmed, with the league still weighing public order considerations and the scheduling of the Internazionali d'Italia tennis tournament — an absurd set of competing priorities that only Italian football could produce so casually. History, at least, is on Roma's side when the derby falls on a Monday, and perhaps the footballing gods might arrange things accordingly. But whenever it kicks off and whatever time it starts, this is the week that defines the Giallorossi's season. Win, and Champions League football feels real. Lose, and the conversation about step-backwards and Conference League destiny becomes very loud very quickly. Roma never dies, Rensch told us on Sunday. Let us see what they are made of when it truly matters.