Seven minutes, three corners, and a night AS Roma had in their hands slipped away to Real Madrid. Leading 3-1 at a packed Stadio Olimpico with seven minutes left, Gian Piero Gasperini's side conceded three times from set pieces and lost 4-3 on José Mourinho's return to Rome.
The turnaround started on the bench. Marc Cucurella and Yan Diomande, both starters who had struggled against Roma's wing-backs, were withdrawn together in the 79th minute. Carlos Espí scored four minutes after coming on, Endrick and Antonio Rüdiger followed, and Arda Güler's corners set up all three goals.
Vinícius ban clouds Mourinho's return to Rome
Madrid's evening had been unsettled long before kick-off. Just two hours before the game, the Spanish federation's disciplinary committee handed Vinícius Júnior a four-match domestic suspension for a hair-pulling red card and for protesting at the referee against Villarreal. Mourinho publicly questioned the timing of the announcement on the eve of a European fixture.
The ban covered domestic football only, but Spanish analysts later judged Vinícius's outing lacklustre and were just as harsh on the Tchouaméni-Valverde midfield pairing.
Rome, meanwhile, was in full voice. This was Roma's first home Champions League match in more than seven years, played before a capacity crowd, and supporters greeted Mourinho with emotional banners, among them an image honouring the 2022 Conference League title he won with the club.
De Roon and Malen punish Madrid's loose play
Marten de Roon broke the deadlock in the 20th minute after Aurélien Tchouaméni lost possession playing out from the back. Matías Soulé laid the ball into his path, and De Roon's first-time strike from outside the box took a heavy deflection off Ibrahima Konaté, wrong-footing Thibaut Courtois.
Madrid answered within five minutes, helped by an error of Roma's own. Mario Hermoso's clearance went astray, Diomande moved the ball on, and Kylian Mbappé drilled a shot from the edge of the area that flicked off Gianluca Mancini and past Pierluigi Gollini. It was a milestone night for Mbappé: his 100th Champions League appearance and his 500th career club goal involvement, made up of 378 goals and 122 assists.
Roma had to reorganise early, losing Manu Koné to injury after 17 minutes and Paulo Dybala around the interval. It barely showed. Six minutes after the restart they intercepted an errant backheel, Rodrigo Mora slid an incisive pass to the near post, and Donyell Malen's finish was diverted over Courtois.
Six minutes later, Soulé's low cross ran across the face of goal and Malen tapped in for 3-1. VAR examined the goal for offside and a possible handball earlier in the move before confirming it in the 58th minute. Soulé became only the second Roma player to provide two assists in a single Champions League match, while Malen moved to eight goals in eight appearances in all competitions this season.
Mourinho's substitutes ignite a seven-minute storm
Mourinho's answer came in the 79th minute, when Cucurella and Diomande made way together. “Está claro que ellos estaban desesperados y metieron a todos los delanteros que tenían, lanzándolos al ataque,” Gasperini said afterwards. In his reading, Madrid threw every forward they had into attack.
It worked almost at once. In the 83rd minute, Güler's corner was headed towards goal by Endrick, Gollini parried, and Espí poked the rebound in from close range. The assistant referee flagged for offside, but VAR overturned the call after confirming Espí was onside when he pounced, and the goal stood. It was his first Champions League goal.
“Yo he venido aquí para aprovechar los minutos, he tenido la oportunidad de salir y la he aprovechado al máximo, haciendo un gol,” Espí said. He now has three goals in six appearances in all competitions.
Two minutes later, Madrid were level. Güler whipped an inswinging corner into the centre of the box and Endrick rose to power a downward header into the bottom-left corner.
In the 90th minute, the routine came round a third time. Güler aimed for the far post, where Rüdiger held off Wesley and Leonardo Balerdi and volleyed home from close range as he fell. The former Roma defender, scoring his second goal of the season in all competitions, refused to celebrate out of respect for his old club.
“You can say it was two games in one, Roma were superior in every aspect for the first, and then Real Madrid were impossible to stop during those 20 minutes,” Mourinho said.
Roma rue three corners as Madrid stay perfect
In Rome, the inquest started and ended with set pieces. “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 said. Soulé was blunter: “I think it has to be an issue of mentality, because when you concede three practically identical goals in seven minutes, something is wrong.”
The numbers back him up. Roma held 54 per cent of the ball, yet Madrid finished with 16 shots to 14, eight on target to seven, and nine corners to five. The hosts controlled long stretches; the visitors capitalised on the key moments.
History makes it heavier. It is only the second time Roma have lost a European Cup or Champions League match after leading by two goals or more, and both have come against Real Madrid, the first a 4-2 defeat in 2004. The result also ended a 14-match unbeaten run in all competitions and leaves Roma three games without a win.
In the league phase, Roma sit 25th with one point from two games. Madrid are eighth with a maximum six after wins over Inter and Roma, and have scored in each of their last six matches in all competitions, 15 goals in total. Spanish media judged Mourinho outcoached for 75 minutes, but the calls to stop benching Güler and to trust Endrick and Espí have never sounded louder.
Match Information
- Competition: UEFA Champions League, League Stage - 2
- Date & Time: Wednesday 14 October 2026, 21:00 CET
- Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
- Referee: François Letexier
