Gasperini: ‘Roma showed belief and have more quality options now’
ROME, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 05: Gian Piero Gasperini, Manager of Roma, looks on before the Serie A match between AS Roma and Atalanta BC at Stadio Olimpico on September 05, 2026 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images)
Gian Piero Gasperini feels the late victory over Atalanta means Roma ‘really believe’ and have more options off the bench. ‘The quality has increased.’
It was turning into an extremely frustrating evening for the Giallorossi, who dominated the match at the Stadio Olimpico without making any of it count, trailing to an Ederson strike against the run of play.
After several Marco Carnesecchi saves, and Santiago Castro hitting the woodwork twice, they finally made their mark in added time.
First the looping Mario Hermoso header went in off the inside of the far post from a corner, then Matias Soulé drilled into the near bottom corner for a 2-1 victory.
Gasperini sees stronger Roma
“It’s precisely because we were against a strong team, and were trailing at their first attempt after the first half was one-way traffic,” Gasperini told Sky Sport Italia.
“With this heat, when you attack constantly and don’t score, you risk using up energy. However, we kept pushing to the end, and when you win in added time after losing at the 89th minute, that’s a sign the squad really believes.”
The statistics make it clear that Roma deserved the victory, as they had 66.5 per cent possession, 10 shots on target to two, and 39 overall attempts on goal to six.
“It is a risk when you don’t score after dominating like that, but the substitutions were crucial, also in defence. With Balerdi and Ghilardi on, we had fresh legs back there and stopped the Atalanta counter-attacks, which were becoming dangerous in that situation.
“Carnesecchi was extraordinary in goal for Atalanta, we weren’t as determined as usual in the final third, and some of the finishing was a little weak. At least we were rewarded at the end for the sheer number of chances created.”
Castro replaced Donyell Malen, so does Gasperini see them ever working together as a pair, or are they both fighting for the same spot?
“They can co-exist certainly, but we’ll see. After the break for international duty, there will be a packed fixture list of big games, so we will have opportunities for everyone, and to vary the tactical systems.
“Soulé was decisive, Molina brought some quality, so this is what we were trying to do this summer, complete the squad with substitutes who can come off the bench and raise the level,” replied the coach.
This result means that Roma have a 100 per cent record after three rounds, conceding only one goal in that time and scoring 10, so sit top of the table with Inter.
“In terms purely of numbers, we are two or three players worse off than last season, but the quality has increased and tonight’s result shows that. I still had De Roon, Koulierakis and Rensch on the bench, Pellegrini is injured.
“The important thing is that we don’t get injuries, because we don’t have the right numbers for a Champions League squad, but we do have the strength in depth for quality.”
Roma can now prepare for their first Champions League game in seven years, facing Turkish team Fenerbahce on Thursday evening.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.