Capello: ‘Roma defeat to Manchester United hurt more than Real Madrid with average players’
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 03: Bryan Cristante of AS Roma following defeat in the UEFA Champions League 2026/27 League Phase MD4 match between Manchester United and AS Roma at Old Trafford on November 03, 2026 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Fabio Capello and Alessandro Florenzi explain why Roma’s collapse against Manchester United ‘hurt far more’ than with Real Madrid. ‘This was against some pretty average players.’
The Giallorossi were leading 2-0 at Old Trafford after just 18 minutes with Matias Soulé and Donyell Malen goals, with several opportunities to further extend their advantage.
It was a dominant performance with little sign of a comeback, yet once Bruno Fernandes converted his penalty at the second time of asking at the 58th minute, the repeat pattern felt inevitable.
Matheus Cunha bagged a brace at the 83rd and 86th to turn the game around and Manchester United won 3-2, a team that had not secured a victory in all competition since September 10.
Roma capitulated in Manchester
The Italian media has seen this as less a valiant Manchester United comeback, more a total capitulation from a Roma side that has made a habit of throwing leads away.
It’s not just in the Champions League either, as they were 2-0 up against Inter only to draw 2-2 on September 19, and risked another collapse when leading 4-0 against Udinese after 37 minutes and conceding twice in the second half for a game that eventually ended 5-2.
Their ultimate Calcio surrender was with Real Madrid, when leading 3-1 going into the 82nd minute, only to concede three practically identical goals from corner kicks in the space of seven minutes in a 4-3 home defeat.
“This one hurts a lot more than Real Madrid, because they conceded three goals in seven minutes, but still played 83 excellent minutes of football,” former Roma star Florenzi told Sky Sport Italia in his role as pundit.
“In Manchester, they only played one half. There are more regrets here.”
Former England and Giallorossi manager Capello was also unimpressed with the way his old club fell apart against an opponent in crisis.
“This Manchester United team does not have exceptional players who can turn a game around from one minute to the next, they have average players,” added Capello.
“That’s why it hurts more than against Real Madrid.”
Yet looking through the history books, there is a recurring theme that Italian clubs think the job is done against Manchester United, under-estimating their determination.
No team has made more two-goal comebacks in the Champions League than the Old Trafford fallen giants, with three out of four coming against Italian opposition.
Along with Roma, they came back from 2-0 down to beat Atalanta 3-2 in October 2021, did the same with Sporting Braga in October 2012, and also away to Juventus in the 1999 semi-final.
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