It took nearly eight years and another 38 rounds of play, but thanks to Sunday’s thrilling victory over Hellas Verona, Roma will finally return to the Champions League. In grand Roma fashion, it wasn’t easy and tested the limits of our nerves, but thanks to stellar performances from Paulo Dybala and Mile Svilar, the Giallorossi are back in the big dance.
However, before we dream about the many ways in which Roma will spend that sweet, sweet Champions League cash, let’s pass out the final halos of
the 2025-2026 season!
The Saints
Paulo Dybala
While La Joya didn’t delight us with one of his trademark curlers, though he came awfully close with a 32nd-minute free kick that required every ounce of Lorenzo Montipo’s mettle to parry over the bar, Dybala put on a masterclass in one of Roma’s most important matches of the past decade. Dybala boasted match highs in chances created (7), dribbles completed (5), shots (5), and duels won (10) while assisting on both goals.
And as if that weren’t enough, he also made a critical block in the 79th minute on a Rafik Belghali attempt in the box, helping preserve Roma’s slim lead before putting the nail in the coffin in stoppage time, setting up El Shaarawy’s storybook ending.
Mile Svilar
It’s been a minute since we anointed Saint Mile with a halo, but the two-time reigning Goalkeeper of the Year earned his plaudits yesterday, if for no other reason than virtue of his season-saving stop on Kieron Bowie in the first minute. All told, Svilar made three saves and two high claims against Verona, securing his 18th clean sheet of the season.
Make no mistake, Roma’s season would have been lost without these two men.
Stephan El Shaarawy
Admittedly, this is a sentimental halo, but if we can’t get sappy with El Shaarawy, we might as well shut down this site. One of the best adopted Romans of all-time, SES capped off his capital career in thrilling fashion. After trying and failing to put the match on ice for over 30 minutes, El Shaarawy made the most of his only touch of the match, chipping a Dybala back-heel over Montipo and past two defenders to close the lid on the match.
I suppose anything is possible, but if this was truly it for El Shaarawy at Roma, what a way to go out!
We can’t possibly slap the sinner label on anyone after such an important victory, but there were a few players stuck in the muddled middle ground, or who simply failed to reach the lofty heights of Dybala and Svilar.
Stuck In Between
Donyell Malen
With 14 goals and two assists in only 18 league appearances, there is no way to undersell Malen’s importance to this squad, so this is admittedly splitting hairs. Still, he just seemed a bit off yesterday, didn’t he? There’s certainly no shame in having a penalty saved (it happens), but after taking the ball from Dybala and getting summarily denied by Montipo, the optics weren’t great.
And while he didn’t have many attempts on goal, he squandered a chance in the 76th minute when he completely flubbed a header, seemingly misreading the flight of the ball and failing to even complete the attempt. Again, this is nitpicking. Give this guy a full season and 25 to 30 goals may not be out of the question.
Devyne Rensch
There was nothing really ambiguous about his performance. Rensch was steady all evening and was one of the few players carrying their weight in the first half, finishing the season on a high note with three assists and one goal in his final seven matches. He’s the perfect utilityman for Gasperini and should be a larger piece of the puzzle next season.
And with that, we’ll close the books on Sinners & Saints for the 2025-2026 season, but stick with us throughout the week as we recap a trying but successful season for the Giallorossi
