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Roma’s Champions League qualification did not begin in the final weeks of the season.
Ever since his first press conference as Roma coach, on 17 June 2025, Gian Piero Gasperini always believed that his team could aim for the top in Serie A.
We put together the milestones of this undertaking with some key moments of his press conferences.
17/06/2025: His official presentation
“Since I joined, everyone has warned me about the situation in Rome and the fact that it’s a difficult city to obtain football success in, for all sorts of reasons. But I think that should be a strength, not a weakness. People tell me about all the radio stations and the pressure, but from the outside what I see is tremendous enthusiasm, a huge desire for football and for success. We need to channel all of this energy and strength in the right direction. If it's been difficult to achieve the objectives set in recent years, I think we can change that, can't we?
“I think the best outcome is qualifying for the Champions League. I don't think that at this moment in time Roma are title contenders, but you never know. I think that's the goal we should set ourselves.”
14/12/2025: ahead of Roma v Como
“What’s preventing Roma from climbing higher up the table? Let’s put it this way, we have all the ingredients. We need to mix them together well to get results. With the fans, the club, the possibility of building a new stadium, there’s the possibility of developing a team. If there have been problems recently, it’s because to reach certain goals, we must do more.
“Regarding a Champions League match against Como, we’re definitely playing for a place in the Europa League. We need to get Europa first, which isn’t easy, then we can get to the Champions League, which is even more difficult. Tomorrow is an important step for Europa and eventually Champions League, but it’s not a decisive one.”
21/02/2026: ahead of Roma v Cremonese
“At my presentation and in the following months, the club has always said this is a transition year, a season to grow and build. Obviously I see the Champions League as the only real target. I left a club in the Champions League and I really miss not being able to play in it.
“If someone thinks they can put pressure on me by saying, 'You have to finish in the Champions League spots', that for me has to be the target, but we know full well what it means to finish above teams like Juventus, Napoli, Como and Atalanta. We have a very good squad.
“I haven't come here to say, 'We'll see how it goes this year' and then again the year after and so on. I've come here to build a strong team. It's not true that it's difficult to work in this city. It's difficult to work well, but not because of the city – you have to work well here. The city always responds, the stadium is full, with 130,000 people for these two games against Cremonese and Juventus. The difference is in the work you're able to do here.”
05/04/2026: after Inter 5-2 Roma
“How hard is it to qualify for the Champions League now? It’s hard for us, as it is for Juventus, Como and Atalanta, who are the only teams still battling for that fourth place. We have seven matches left; the others have eight. We’re a bit behind right now, but we’ll do everything we can to catch up.”
09/04/2026: ahead of Roma v Pisa
“This is a team that has a clear conscience on how they’ve worked, how they’ve approached the games and how they've gone about their entire season. Anyway, we’ve got a team that bounces back – they're dedicated guys who are committed, motivated and who want to try to do their best. We really want to try to finish the season well. We’ve got an objective that's still achievable, albeit one which has become much more difficult, one that nobody had expected us to achieve, at least outside of Rome.”
“We believed in this objective, and we still really want to try to reach it.”
16/05/2026: ahead of the derby
“The owners are here and they're doing a lot. There are two games left and we're sure of a Europa League place, which is already a good achievement. We've pulled away from some great teams like Bologna, who have played in the Champions League, like Atalanta, who have played in the Champions League, and Lazio. We're still up there battling away, level on points with Milan, a point behind Juventus and three behind Napoli, with two games left to play. We could say that we've already done a lot but that's no reason for us not to want more. We must try and do even better in these last two matches.”
24/05/2026: full circle
Roma win at the Bentegodi, beating Hellas Verona 2-0 and securing third place in the table! “It’s a wonderful night. I immediately found a group who worked very hard. They all wanted to play a high-level season and it was very gratifying. We won over the critics, earned credibility and the stadium was always full. In a way it was a difficult season, but not in terms of the relationship with the team or the fans.”
Mission accomplished, Coach!
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