Roma return from the break with more than a place at the top of Serie A to defend. Sunday’s visit to Como offers Gian Piero Gasperini the chance to reach a personal landmark, while his side continue to give early shape to a campaign built on intensity, attacking volume and a receptive dressing room.
Gasperini could collect his 300th Serie A victory as a coach at Como. That would move him within two wins of Nereo Rocco’s 302, with Luciano Spalletti next on 306; Massimiliano Allegri stands on 324 and Giovanni Trapattoni remains clear at the summit with 352.
The Roman coach has recently invoked Rocco’s old principle: give him a goalkeeper who saves and a forward who scores, and he will take care of the rest. If Gasperini were to catch or pass Spalletti by May, Roma’s season would have acquired an exceptional dimension.
Quick facts
- Roma have allowed opponents only 8.54 passes on average before making a defensive action, the best pressing figure in Europe.
- After five league matches, they have produced 103 attempts and put 35 on target.
- At the same point last season, Roma had recorded 60 shots, including 23 on target.
- The side are averaging 2.8 goals per match in the opening five rounds, compared with five goals in total across their first five games of 2025-26.
- Recoveries in the opposition third have risen from 26 to 40, an increase of 65 per cent.
The numbers describe a Roma already more forceful than the one seen at the beginning of the previous campaign. Their passing total has climbed from 2,417 to 2,735, while entries into the opposition penalty area have increased from 269 to 320 — an additional 10 per game on average.
Touches inside the box have also risen sharply, from 128 to 219. Those gains have not come from a single adjustment, but from a side increasingly comfortable in Gasperini’s demands: a high starting position, rapid pressure after losing possession, direct attacks and constant work from the wide players, forwards and midfielders.
The coach’s training ground remains central to the process. Trigoria has become the place where experiments are tested and refined, with a squad that has embraced the work rather than resisted it. The Olympic Stadium has so far been the stage on which the results have become visible.
“What is the point if you do not enjoy the work during the week? Football includes that too,” Gasperini said from the outset of his time in charge, before first place was part of the conversation. His idea has been to pursue ambition without allowing it to become a burden.
Roma’s physical level is still developing. There have been declines early in second halves, suggesting the team have not yet reached their peak, but the running has been purposeful rather than excessive. They remain among the division’s lower-running sides in raw terms, while using their effort effectively.
The defensive phase has improved considerably from the summer friendlies, and the atmosphere around the club has changed with it. Rather than becoming an added pressure, the environment has become part of the push behind the team’s ambitions.
Alongside Inter and Como, Roma have emerged as one of Serie A’s most complete early-season teams. The message after five rounds is not that Gasperini’s work is finished, but that a side still taking shape has already raised its standards considerably.
