UCL | Fenerbahce 1-1 Roma: A solid point in Istanbul

Roma open the Champions League campaign with a creditable 1-1 draw away to Fenerbahce, as Bryan Cristante’s opener was cancelled out by Archie Brown.

The Giallorossi returned to the tournament after seven years and coming off three consecutive Serie A victories. Only Lorenzo Pellegrini was still out of action. Devyne Rensch was back, with Donyell Malen, Paulo Dybala and Matias Soulé.

Fenerbahce’s last Champions League proper game was 18 years ago, but Matteo Guendouzi was suspended after insulting French fans during the fiery play-off with Lyon. Jayden Oosterwolde and Marco Asensio were injured, with ex-Serie A players Milan Skriniar, Romelu Lukaku and Mert Muldur in the squad, plus Mason Greenwood, who chose the Turkish side over Roma this summer.

The Italians dominated possession early on, but it was the hosts who stung Mile Svilar’s gloves with a Kerem Akturkoglu counter-attack, while Dybala stung Ederson’s gloves at the near post.

Ismael Yuksek made a decisive tackle on Malen inside the penalty area, but Roma had the breakthrough when Malen cut inside from the left and laid it off for Bryan Cristante to drill right-footed through a sea of legs into the far bottom corner from the edge of the box.

It could’ve been 2-0 moments later, but Wesley hit a fresh-air volley from 12 yards on the Dybala cross from the right.

Fenerbahce equalised at the dawn of the second half, as Archie Brown sprung the offside trap on a smart Greenwood disguised pass through the centre, dinking a delicate finish over on-rushing Svilar.

They threatened a second moments later, Svilar sprinting off his line to narrow the angle on Muriqi after a N’Golo Kante slide-rule pass.

Dybala had penalty appeals rejected for a Milan Skriniar shirt tug, while Greenwood hit the side-netting after shrugging off Wesley and Malen fired over from a tricky angle on the Soulé assist.

Roma thought they had a penalty on 68 minutes when Dybala was tripped by Kerim Aktarkoglu, but VAR showed the contact was just outside the area.

Moments later, Wesley was also brought down inches outside the box, but this time there wasn’t even a free kick to show for it.

Romelu Lukaku came on and within 60 seconds had rolled across for Oguz Aydin’s deflected effort, forcing Svilar into a desperate save with cat-like reflexes.

Dybala’s solo finish was too weak to trouble Ederson, but Fenerbahce were fresher as the game wore on and Nathan Ake’s header on a free kick thumped the frame of the goal, with Brown offside on the rebound.

Fenerbahce 1-1 Roma

Cristante 39 (R), Brown 48 (F)

10-09-2026 17:45

MatchDay 1

Fenerbahçe

Roma

Live

Player statistic

1st half

2nd half

Fenerbahçe

Roma

Starting lineups

31 Ederson Goalkeeper

3 Archie Brown Defender

18 Mert Müldür Defender

37 Milan Skriniar Defender

15 Nathan Aké Defender

28 Bartug Elmaz Midfielder 62'

5 Ismail Yüksek Midfielder

91 N’Golo Kanté Midfielder

7 Kerem Aktürkoglu Attacker 72'

11 Mason Greenwood Attacker

19 Vedat Muriqi Attacker 72'

99 Mile Svilar Goalkeeper

2 Devyne Rensch Defender 74'

5 Evan Ndicka Defender

23 Gianluca Mancini Defender 75'

22 Mario Hermoso Defender

43 Wesley Defender

4 Bryan Cristante Midfielder

17 Manu Koné Midfielder 53'

14 Donyell Malen Attacker 87'

18 Matìas Soulé Attacker 74'

21 Paulo Dybala Attacker

Substitutes

27 Nélson Semedo Defender

17 Irfan Can Kahveci Attacker

34 Mert Günok Goalkeeper

45 Dorgeles Nene Attacker

14 Yigit Efe Demir Defender

77 Ognjen Mimovic Defender

21 Kojo Peprah Oppong Defender

13 Tarik Cetin Goalkeeper

22 Levent Mercan Midfielder 62'

9 Romelu Lukaku Attacker 72'

70 Oğuz Aydın Attacker 72'

95 Pierluigi Gollini Goalkeeper

3 Konstantinos Koulierakis Defender

87 Daniele Ghilardi Defender

9 Santiago Castro Attacker

70 Giorgio De Marzi Goalkeeper

77 Emanuele Lulli Defender

61 Niccolò Pisilli Midfielder 53'

20 Nahuel Molina Defender 74'

86 Rodrigo Mora Midfielder 74'

26 Leonardo Balerdi Defender 75'

15 Marten de Roon Midfielder 87'