Roma vs Real Madrid 3-4 - Champions League Matchday 2 Match Report

Roma and Real Madrid met at Stadio Olimpico in the UEFA Champions League league phase, and the shape of the match explained the scoreline far better than the bare numbers do. Roma went down to 3-4 and spent the remainder of the evening trying to pull the game back. The turning point came at the 20 minute mark, when Marten de Roon scored cleanly, and everything that followed was played in that new landscape. Real Madrid won 3-4 and carried the points home. 64256 supporters filled Stadio Olimpico, and the noise never really left the players alone. Neither side arrived in the best form: the last five results read W D W D D for Roma and W W W L W for Real Madrid, and both sets of players knew what a slip would cost.

Match facts

• Date: 2026-10-14
• Kick-off: 19:00 UTC
• Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Roma, Italy (70634)
• Attendance: 64256
• Referee: François Letexier (France)
• Competition: UEFA Champions League 2026/2027 - Matchday 2
• Starting line-ups: Roma (3-4-1-2, Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini) / Real Madrid (4-2-3-1, Coach: José Mourinho)
• Scorers: Marten de Roon 20'; Donyell Malen 51'; Donyell Malen 57'; Kylian Mbappé 25'; Carlos Espí 82'; Endrick 85'; Antonio Rüdiger 90'

Roma lined up with Pierluigi Gollini, Gianluca Mancini, Evan N'Dicka, Mario Hermoso, Wesley, Marten de Roon, Manu Koné, Nahuel Molina, Matias Soulé, Donyell Malen, Paulo Dybala in a 3-4-1-2, while Real Madrid answered with Thibaut Courtois, Denzel Dumfries, Ibrahima Konaté, Antonio Rüdiger, Marc Cucurella, Federico Valverde, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Yan Diomande, Jude Bellingham, Vinícius Júnior, Kylian Mbappé in a 4-2-3-1. Gian Piero Gasperini and José Mourinho led their respective sides from the touchline, and both had a plan for the first hour that they wanted to keep intact.

Goals and key moments

Goal details, minutes and scorers are the part of the record that separate one evening from another. At the 20' mark, Marten de Roon scored cleanly, with Matias Soulé supplying the pass that made it possible, and 1-0 was the consequence. It was a chance worth 0.046 expected goals, which is exactly why it was worth taking. 25': Kylian Mbappé found the far corner, Yan Diomande helping it over the line, and it was 1-1 almost immediately. 51': Donyell Malen kept the composure the moment demanded, Rodrigo Mora helping it over the line, and it was 2-1 almost immediately. 57': Donyell Malen turned the move into the opening the team had been chasing, Matias Soulé helping it over the line, and it was 3-1 almost immediately. 82': Carlos Espí struck it with quality, Endrick helping it over the line, and it was 3-2 almost immediately. 85': Endrick scored cleanly, Arda Güler helping it over the line, and it was 3-3 almost immediately. 90': Antonio Rüdiger found the far corner, Arda Güler helping it over the line, and it was 3-4 almost immediately. That strike changed the temperature of the evening: from that point the leading side could play for the counter while the chasing side had to take risks in the spaces that had opened up. Not every opening was taken, though, and the chances that were missed told their own story. Taken together, the goals gave the evening a shape that the scoreline on its own never explained.

The tactical picture

Roma started in 3-4-1-2 under Gian Piero Gasperini, while Real Madrid answered with 4-2-3-1 under José Mourinho, and those two shapes decided most of what happened on the field. Neither manager was willing to hand the central ground over for free, and the shape of the game followed that refusal. The midfield was the part of the pitch both sides wanted, and the numbers show who managed to take it. The side that pressed high won the second ball, which left the other team unable to build from the back and forced them into hopeful passes. The width of the pitch worked against the team that kept attacking down the same flank, and they were closed down every time. Transitions were the story: one side moved the ball forward at speed, the other could not. The tactical conversation between the two benches was as much a part of the evening as the movement of the ball itself.

Tactical reading

Roma set up in a 3-4-1-2 against the 4-2-3-1 of Real Madrid, and the two shapes decided how the ball actually moved: Roma completed 546 passes at 86% accuracy while Real Madrid answered with 462 and 83%. The duel numbers underline the same story, as Roma won 35 duels against 49 for Real Madrid, completed 12 tackles to 15 and read 14 passes compared with 13.

Statistical comparison

The statistical picture is as revealing as the scoreline itself. Expected goals told the sharper story: 1.41 for Roma against 1.43 for Real Madrid. Roma attempted 14 shots to Real Madrid's 16, with 7 on target against 8. Possession finished at 54 per cent for Roma against 46 per cent for Real Madrid, and it is worth noting which side actually used it. Roma won 5 corners to Real Madrid's 9, and that is where most of the set-piece danger came from. Roma completed 469 of 546 passes against 385 of 462 for Real Madrid, a difference that shows how differently the two sides circulated the ball. Fouls were committed 15 times by Roma and 8 by Real Madrid, with 0 and 0 red cards in the official count. The goalkeepers made 4 and 4 saves respectively, and on a night like this that work decides how the result is remembered. The duels went 35 to 49, which is usually the cleanest single indicator of who was prepared to spend effort on the ball. Tackles were completed 12 times by Roma and 15 by Real Madrid, and the duels that followed tell the same story as the rest of the evening.

Discipline and substitutions

Discipline and substitutions shaped the second half more than the scoreline suggests. Roma collected 3 yellow cards and Real Madrid 1, and the caution count of 4 in total meant the referee had to manage a game that was becoming increasingly physical around the halfway line. Both coaches used their changes: 5 by Roma and 5 by Real Madrid, with the last substitution of the evening coming late. The emotional temperature of the evening rose and fell with the challenges and with the decisions taken by both benches. François Letexier took charge of the match and had a relatively straightforward evening by the standards of the competition.

Player of the match and the standout performers

Individual performances separated the two teams across a full ninety minutes. Donyell Malen of Roma was the player of the match with a rating of 8.7, and every touch that mattered carried his name on it. For Roma, the best individual rating belonged to Donyell Malen, and for Real Madrid it belonged to Yan Diomande. The gap between the best performances on each side was the reason the result never really looked as comfortable as it was. Across the two squads the highest individual ratings read Donyell Malen (8.68), Matias Soulé (8.63), Yan Diomande (8.46), Arda Güler (8.27).

What the result means for the league phase

Roma on points from 3 matches, in 15 place with a goal difference of 3, and Real Madrid on points from 3 matches, in 4 place with a goal difference of 5. Roma arrived with W D W D D in their last five and Real Madrid with W W W L W, so the result fits the run both of them have been on. For the winner the three points are banked and the group is a shade closer to settled; for the other side the work still to be done, and this result has made that plain. What the numbers cannot show is how hard the result was worked for, and how differently the two sides will remember it. The next round of the league phase will tell more: whoever adjusts first in the coming days will be the one who controls the group.