UCL | Roma 4-0 Slovan Bratislava: Giallorossi secure first victory

Roma swept Slovan Bratislava aside 4-0 for their first Champions League victory, with Mario Hermoso, Nahuel Molina, Niccolò Pisilli and Donyell Malen on target.

The Giallorossi were still reeling from the 4-3 defeat to Real Madrid, a game they had been leading 3-1 until the 82nd minute, conceding three late goals from corners. Paulo Dybala and Manu Koné also sustained injuries in that match, joining Mile Svilar on the treatment table, but Bryan Cristante was back on the bench after a month out. The defence was totally revamped amid squad rotation.

Yaya Touré’s Slovan Bratislava lost 6-1 to PSG and 3-0 to VfB Stuttgart, making the trip without injured Andraz Sporar, Roman Cerepkai and Mykola Kukharevych.

Donyell Malen’s early effort was charged down from 10 yards, while Niccolò Pisilli scuffed a rebound wide, then Lorenzo Pellegrini’s half-volley was over from a promising position.

The breakthrough arrived on a set play, as Pellegrini’s free kick was knocked down at the back post by Daniele Ghilardi for fellow centre-back Mario Hermoso to nod over from point-blank range.

Roma doubled their lead when Malen cut inside from the left and his precise finish was palmed into the path of Nahuel Molina, tapping in the rebound at the far stick.

Pellegrini nutmegged a player to burst into the box at the dawn of the second half, but sustained an injury in the process, so handed the captain’s armband to Pisilli.

Moments later, substitute Matias Soulé harassed Barseghyan into giving it away at the by-line, so Malen laid it off for Pisilli to blast into the roof of the net.

Wesley went down somewhat easily under pressure from Blackman and Malen converted the resulting penalty into the near bottom corner for 4-0.

Rodrigo Mora failed to make the most of a Santiago Castro roll across when one-on-one with the goalkeeper, then on the resulting corner Ghilardi volleyed in, but with two teammates offside and interfering with play.

Roma 4-0 Slovan Bratislava

Hermoso 22 (R), Molina 39 (R), Pisilli 53 (R), Malen pen 58 (R)

20-10-2026 20:00

MatchDay 3

Stadio Olimpico (Rome)

Roma

Slovan Bratislava

Player statistic

1st half

2nd half

Match statistic

73 Possession % 27

26 Total shots 1

10 Shots on target 0

10 Shots off target 1

6 Blocked shots 0

8 Corners 1

4 Offsides 1

10 Fouls 10

Starting lineups

95 Pierluigi Gollini Goalkeeper

87 Daniele Ghilardi Defender

26 Leonardo Balerdi Defender

22 Mario Hermoso Defender 77'

20 Nahuel Molina Defender

43 Wesley Defender 59'

7 Lorenzo Pellegrini Midfielder 51'

15 Marten de Roon Midfielder 77'

61 Niccolò Pisilli Midfielder

86 Rodrigo Mora Midfielder

14 Donyell Malen Attacker 59'

71 Dominik Takac Goalkeeper

28 César Blackman Defender

12 Kenan Bajric Defender

57 Sandro Cruz Defender 82'

15 Svetozar Markovic Defender

8 Artur Gajdos Midfielder 69'

10 Nino Marcelli Midfielder

3 Peter Pokorny Midfielder

5 Rahim Ibrahim Midfielder 69'

21 Suleiman Camara Attacker 69'

11 Tigran Barseghyan Attacker 55'

Substitutes

4 Bryan Cristante Midfielder

5 Evan Ndicka Defender

32 Devis Vásquez Goalkeeper

70 Giorgio De Marzi Goalkeeper

77 Emanuele Lulli Defender

63 Alessandro Di Nunzio Midfielder

18 Matìas Soulé Attacker 51'

2 Devyne Rensch Defender 59'

9 Santiago Castro Attacker 59'

23 Gianluca Mancini Defender 77'

3 Konstantinos Koulierakis Defender 77'

77 Danylo Ignatenko Midfielder

1 Aleksandar Popovic Goalkeeper

2 Samuel Kozlovsky Defender

49 Sahmkou Camara Defender

88 Daiki Matsuoka Midfielder

7 Leo Hofstädter Midfielder

26 Robert Tomanek Defender

14 Alasana Yirajang Attacker 55'

20 Alen Mustafic Midfielder 69'

70 Cristian Martínez Midfielder 69'

29 Alexej Maros Midfielder 69'

6 Kevin Wimmer Defender 82'