The 2026 Champions League final was the 10th in a row in which at least one former Roma player made an appearance.
It’s the longest active streak of its kind, most closely rivalled by Bayer Leverkusen with six.
Ex-Roma defender Marquinhos captained PSG to their second consecutive Champions League crown, in the competition’s first game since Roma themselves confirmed their return for next season.
Here are the former Roma players to have played in the past 10 Champions League finals.
2026
Marquinhos, who spent the 2012-13 season with Roma after arriving from Corinthians, captained PSG in the 2026 Champions League final, lasting until the interval of extra time before his side beat Arsenal on penalties.
Each side also had an ex-Roma player as an unused substitute: Renato Marin for PSG and Riccardo Calafiori for Arsenal.
2025
Marquinhos also captained PSG in the 2025 Champions League final, in which there was also ex-Roma representation on their opposing team. Henrikh Mkhitaryan played the first hour or so of the game for Inter, and Nicola Zalewski came on in the second half.
Roma academy product Davide Frattesi remained an unused substitute as PSG won 5-0.
2024
Real Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund in the 2024 Champions League final, with the losing side featuring a couple of players who would later join Roma: Mats Hummels and Donyell Malen.
But someone whose Roma career was already in the past at the time was Madrid centre-back, Antonio Rüdiger.
2023
There was an Italian side in each European final in 2023, including Roma in the Europa League.
Inter were representing Serie A in the Champions League and their starting lineup for their loss to Manchester City included Edin Džeko, playing against another of his former clubs.
Having featured (briefly) in the Conference League final for Roma the year before, Mkhitaryan came on as a sub for Inter as well.
2022
The 2022 Champions League final saw Liverpool suffer a 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid.
Alisson Becker and Mohamed Salah completed the game in full for Liverpool, who also kept future Roma loanee Kostas Tsimikas on the bench.
2021
Rüdiger made his first Champions League final appearance in 2021, at which point he was playing for Chelsea.
He completed all of their 1-0 win over Manchester City, but fellow former Roma player Emerson Palmieri remained on the bench.
2020
Marquinhos‘ first Champions League final didn’t go to plan, as PSG lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich.
The Brazilian started in midfield that day, alongside Leandro Paredes, who had been sold by Roma three years earlier but would return for a second spell in another three years.
2019
Alisson and Salah had more to celebrate with the 2019 Champions League final, which they won with Liverpool.
It was the goalkeeper’s first season after leaving Roma, having helped them to the past season’s semi-finals.
Salah scored the opening goal in Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur, who had ex-Roma winger Erik Lamela on the bench but didn’t bring him on.
Georginio Wijnaldum also started for Liverpool, but this was a few years before his loan spell at Roma from PSG.
2018
As stated, Alisson was still inspiring Roma in the 2017-18 season, before Liverpool knocked them out at the last hurdle before the final.
Salah, who scored twice against his former club in the first leg of the semi-final, started the final against Real Madrid but was taken off injured after half an hour.
Real Madrid went on to win 3-1, with a poor goalkeeping display by Liverpool’s Loris Karius prompting the Premier League side to raid Roma for Alisson that summer.
2017
After his controversial move from Roma to Juventus in the summer of 2016, Miralem Pjanić reached a Champions League final at the first time of asking with his new club.
The midfielder started for Juventus against Real Madrid as they suffered a 4-1 defeat.
Future Roma talisman Paulo Dybala was also among the Juventus starters that day, while ex-Giallorossi defender Medhi Benatia remained on the bench.
In the opposite dugout was Nacho, a year after Roma had tried to sign him – something they would eternally be linked with attempting again.
Before the 10 in a row
Other players to feature in a Champions League final after leaving Roma in previous years are:
- Walter Samuel and Cristian Chivu for Inter in 2010
- Cafu for AC Milan in 2005
- Dmitri Alenichev for Porto in 2004
- Iván Helguera for Real Madrid in 2002
- Paulo Sérgio for Bayern Munich and Amedeo Carboni for Valencia in 2001
- Iván Helguera for Real Madrid in 2000
- Angelo Peruzzi, Angelo Di Livio (an academy player only for Roma) and Daniel Fonseca for Juventus in 1998
- Angelo Peruzzi and Angelo Di Livio for Juventus in 1997
- Angelo Peruzzi and Pietro Vierchowod for Juventus in 1996
- Daniele Massaro for AC Milan in 1995
- Daniele Massaro for AC Milan in 1994
- Rudi Völler for Marseille and Daniele Massaro for AC Milan in 1993
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