Roma Champions League Push Aided By Malen's January Transfer Move

Roma sealed a return to the Champions League with a 2-0 victory over Hellas Verona, capping a late-season surge that also underlined Donyell Malen’s impact since joining from Aston Villa in January. The win confirmed third place in Serie A and extended Roma’s league winning run to five matches.

This season’s finish means Roma will play in the Champions League for the first time in seven years, while continuing a run of 13 straight campaigns in European competition. Their strong close to the Serie A schedule came after doubts in early April about whether a top-four spot would be secured.

Roma’s position looked fragile after a 5-2 defeat to Inter at the start of April, when Champions League qualification seemed at risk. From that setback, the side responded with six wins and one draw in the final seven league fixtures, overtaking AC Milan and Juventus in the race for third place.

Gian Piero Gasperini highlighted the effort shown during that decisive spell, praising the mentality within the group across the entire campaign. Wins over direct rivals in the closing weeks helped Roma move clear, while consistency in performance, rather than high scores alone, proved crucial in reaching the Champions League places.

Against Verona, Roma had to work through tension despite playing with a numerical advantage. Nicolas Valentin was sent off early in the second half, yet Roma initially struggled to create clear chances. Malen broke the deadlock from the rebound after a saved penalty, before Stephan El Shaarawy added a second goal during stoppage time.

Malen’s strike against Verona took the forward’s Serie A tally for Roma to 14 goals this season. The Dutch international reached that figure in only 18 league appearances. The previous Roma player to score at least 14 in a single Serie A campaign was Tammy Abraham, who hit 17 goals in 37 matches in 2021-22.

Roma Champions League target driven by Malen and elite Serie A numbers

Malen’s scoring rate also stands out in a wider Serie A context. Among players with fewer than 20 league appearances in a season during the three-points-per-win era, Malen’s 14 goals in 18 games place the forward alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who scored 15 in 19 for Milan in 2020-21, and Ronaldo, who hit 14 in 19 for Inter in 1998-99.

Only one player has outscored Malen in the 2025-26 Serie A campaign. Lautaro Martinez sits on 17 goals, while Malen’s 14 place the Roma forward level with Tasos Douvikas. That efficiency has made the January arrival one of the league’s most decisive attacking figures over the second half of the season.

Gasperini made clear after the Verona match how difficult the occasion felt despite the final scoreline. "It was a wonderful evening, a difficult one, as Verona have fought hard lately against everyone, and paradoxically we struggled more when they went down to 10 men," Gasperini told DAZN Italia. "Perhaps there was tension, the pressure to finish off the game, so we didn't create many chances, then didn't take them, leaving the risk that something might happen."

The coach explained that the squad’s progress had been visible even when results in direct clashes were mixed. "I see the way these lads work, and despite some bad results in the head-to-head matches, we got the feeling we were growing and getting closer. Malen obviously gave us a huge leap forward with his arrival, but at the same time, we lost [Paulo] Dybala, [Matias] Soule and [Artem] Dovbyk to injury, so there were few options in attack."

Gasperini also revealed the internal target that guided Roma’s late charge. "We talked amongst ourselves and said that to get into the Champions League, we needed a run of six or seven victories in a row. We had never managed it during the campaign, but we saved it for the right moment." That sequence ultimately lifted the team into third spot.

The Roma head coach underlined how the season’s work and connection with supporters combined with Malen’s arrival to shape the final outcome. "From the start, this group worked really hard; you could see they wanted to have a season at the highest level, which was gratifying," Gasperini added. "We started well, won over some critics, but above all gained credibility with our fans, seeing the stadium always packed. It was a difficult season in many ways, but not for the rapport with the crowd, and that was a locomotive powering us on to this result."