Roma ‘paralysed with fear’ in dramatic defeat to Madrid, laments Gasperini

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Gian Piero Gasperini admitted "there is huge regret" after Roma's dramatic defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Roma looked certain to win all three points at Stadio Olimpico after Donyell Malen's brace gave them a 3-1 lead, but Los Blancos pulled off a stunning turnaround.

Carlos Espi, Endrick and Antonio Rudiger all scored from corners in a seven-minute spell, with the final goal from the German defender coming in the 90th minute.

With Roma 3-1 ahead as late as the 82nd minute, excluding games that went to extra time, this was the latest that an away side had been behind by 2+ goals in a Champions League match and gone on to win.

This was also just the second time Roma have lost a European Cup/Champions League match in which they had led by 2+ goals – both of them have been against Madrid (4-2 in 2004).

Roma dropped deeper as the minutes ticked on, and Gasperini felt his players were "paralysed with fear" when defending Arda Guler's corners late in the game.

"They had taken corners in the first half too, but in the final minutes it was as if we were paralysed with fear on those corners, they scored too easily," Gasperini told Sky Sport Italia and Amazon Prime Video Italia.

"There is huge regret, because a game played like that should not have ended with that epilogue.

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— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) October 14, 2026

"We have to build on the positives, so even if this defeat weighs heavily, we need to shake it off quickly, otherwise we risk cancelling out all the good things we saw in this match.

"It is so hard to accept, but Roma certainly did some very good things, which we ruined at the end. Quite beyond Real Madrid's capabilities on set plays, we were far too passive, and that is a pity."

There certainly were positives as Malen scored two goals and Matias Soule recorded two assists.

Since Malen's debut for Roma on January 18th, only Harry Kane (37) and Raphinha (24) have scored more goals for a big-five European league side than the Dutchman (23 across all competitions), while Soule is just the second Roma player to assist 2+ goals in a Champions League match.

Nevertheless, Roma now have just one point from their opening two Champions League games this season.

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