Progressing in European competitions is a collective effort, but some individuals have risen to the challenge for Roma by inspiring them in multiple matches.
Here, Giallorossi Yorkshire recaps the players who have scored in both legs of a European knockout tie for Roma in the 21st Century.
Gianluca Mancini v AC Milan (2024)
Drawn against another Italian side in Europe for only the third time in their history, Roma redeemed themselves from recent poor results against the Rossoneri by winning both legs of their 2023-24 Europa League quarter-final.
After scoring the only goal of the Rome derby five days before, defender Gianluca Mancini headed in Roma’s winner in the first leg against Milan and also put them in front at San Siro the following week to tee up a 3-1 aggregate win.
Edin Dzeko v Manchester United (2021)
You are about to see the name Edin Dzeko a few times. His most recent example of scoring in both legs of a European knockout tie was in the Europa League semi-finals against Manchester United in his final season with the club.
Dzeko put Roma 2-1 up at Old Trafford, but Paulo Fonseca’s side failed to manage their lead and collapsed to a 6-2 defeat. They would win back at the Olimpico, with Dzeko scoring again, but not by enough to reach the final.
Edin Dzeko and Borja Mayoral v Braga (2021)
A few rounds earlier, Roma began the knockout phase by overcoming Fonseca’s former side Braga. Both of their strikers that season, Dzeko and Borja Mayoral, scored in a 2-0 first-leg win in Portugal.
The second leg of the round of 32 clash was a 3-1 win in which, along with Carles Perez, both frontmen scored again. Dzeko started both fixtures before being replaced by Mayoral, that season’s joint-top scorer in the Europa League.
Edin Dzeko v Liverpool (2018)
Only two players have scored in both legs of a Champions League knockout tie for Roma and they were both Dzeko, during the miraculous 2017-18 run.
The final hurdle would be the semi-final against Liverpool, in which Roma succumbed to a five-goal deficit within 69 minutes of the first leg. The first of two consolation goals at Anfield was converted by Dzeko.
Similarly to the Man Utd tie mentioned above, Roma won the second leg but couldn’t overturn their aggregate deficit. Dzeko scored an equaliser to make it 2-2 on the night at the Olimpico, but Radja Nainggolan’s late brace was too little, too late.
Edin Dzeko v Barcelona (2018)
Just being in the semi-finals of the Champions League was an extraordinary achievement for Roma, and the way in which they got there was extraordinary in and of itself.
Similarly to the semi-final, Eusebio Di Francesco’s side found themselves comfortably behind in the first leg of their quarter-final against Barcelona, but Dzeko’s late goal to make it 3-1 (even if the score would later extend to 4-1) gave them a glimmer of hope.
Unlike the semi-final, Roma followed through on it. Producing one of their best ever performances, with Dzeko getting the ball rolling early with the opener, Roma swept aside Barcelona 3-0 to go through on away goals in the second leg.
Gervinho v Feyenoord (2015)
Before the animosity between Roma and Feyenoord kicked off in the Jose Mourinho/Arne Slot feudal era, the two sides met in the 2014-15 Europa League round of 32 after Rudi Garcia’s side dropped down from the Champions League.
After becoming an Africa Cup of Nations winner with Ivory Coast earlier that February, Gervinho – who had scored more goals for Roma in that season’s Champions League group stage than any of his teammates too – came back with a bang at club level, scoring the opener in a 1-1 first-leg draw at De Kuip and then the winner in a 2-1 triumph at the Olimpico.
Antonio Cassano v Hajduk Split (2003)
Back in the days when the Europa League was the UEFA Cup and didn’t have a group stage, Roma made it to the round of 16 in Fabio Capello’s farewell season.
The second round was against Hajduk Split, with both of Roma’s goals over the 2-1 aggregate win coming from Antonio Cassano, who would also score in one leg each of the subsequent two rounds.
Marco Delvecchio and Walter Samuel v HIT Gorica (2000)
The 2000-01 season is best remembered for being the one in which Roma won their third Scudetto. Meanwhile, in Europe, they reached the round of 16 in the UEFA Cup.
Their journey began in September with a first-round drubbing of HIT Gorica, a side from Slovenia. In the away leg, Marco Delvecchio scored a hat-trick, with summer signing Walter Samuel also making his mark in a 4-1 win.
Samuel then opened the scoring in a 7-0 win back in Rome for the second leg, in which Delvecchio scored the fourth goal (in the 23rd minute!).
Below is a brief overview of players to have accomplished a similar feat, excluding replays, in the 20th Century:
Francesco Totti v Zurich (1998, UEFA Cup round of 16)
Damiano Tommasi and Daniel Fonseca v Dynamo Moscow (1996, UEFA Cup round of 64)
Ruggiero Rizzitelli v Grasshopper (1992, UEFA Cup round of 32)
Andrea Carnevale v Ilves (1991, European Cup Winners’ Cup round of 16)
Rudi Voller v Anderlecht (1991, UEFA Cup quarter-final)
Rudi Voller v Bordeaux (1990, UEFA Cup round of 16)
Jurgen Schutz v Hertha Berlin (1963, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup round of 32)
Francisco Lojacono v Altay (1962, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup round of 32)
Francisco Lojacono v Hibernian (1961, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup semi-final)
Filippo Tasso v Hannover (1958/59, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup round of 16)
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