A major part of the magic of continental tournaments like the Champions League (remember that?), Europa League (or UEFA Cup) and Conference League is in the way they can take clubs to different locations across Europe and put them up against sides they would not ordinarily face.
But while that has meant fixtures against a range of clubs – well-known or not – over the years, there can be a degree of familiarity for some of the players involved, such as this selection below who have scored for Roma against a club from the same country as themselves in a European match.
Angeliño (vs Athletic Club, March 2025)
With the 2025 Europa League final set to be played in Bilbao, Athletic Club came to Rome with major motivation for the first leg of their round of 16 tie against Claudio Ranieri’s Giallorossi.
It was Athletic who took the lead in the second half, but Roma hit back soon after with an instinctive goal by Angeliño.
Angelino equalises for Roma just 6️⃣ minutes after Athletic Club took the lead 💨
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 6, 2025
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The Spanish left-back had sat alongside Ranieri at the previous day’s press conference and admitted he was hoping his good form for Roma might finally earn him a first national team call-up.
It can’t have harmed his prospects when he proceeded to level things up for Roma with a right-footed effort – his fourth goal in 10 games – before Eldor Shomrodov won it, for the first leg at least, in stoppage time.
Artem Dovbyk (vs Dynamo Kyiv, October 2024)
Embed from Getty ImagesArtem Dovbyk’s exploits with Dnipro-1 in the Ukrainian Premier League between 2020 and 2023 not only earned him a senior international debut, but also a second shot at making it outside his native country when Girona bought him for €7m. One year later, after helping Girona to qualify for the Champions League and finishing as La Liga’s top scorer, Dovbyk secured a €38m move to Roma.
His fifth goal for his new club came in just his 11th appearance, as he converted a penalty against Ukrainian visitors Dynamo Kyiv during the third matchday of the new Europa League league phase to earn Roma a 1-0 win.
Seven of his 24 goals for Girona had been penalties and this was his first goal from the spot for Roma. It also happened to be his first ever goal against Dynamo Kyiv, at the seventh attempt.
Gianluca Mancini (vs AC Milan, April 2024)
There haven’t been too many examples of Roma facing other Italian teams in UEFA competitions, but when they overcame AC Milan in the 2023-24 Europa League quarter-finals, Gianluca Mancini was crucial in both legs.
The defender’s header gave Roma a 1-0 advantage from the first leg and then he gave Daniele De Rossi’s side the lead in the return fixture too, to set the Giallorossi on their way to a 3-1 aggregate win.
In fact, only Romelu Lukaku scored more goals for Roma in that season’s Europa League run.
Tammy Abraham (vs Leicester City, May 2022)
It seems like a lifetime ago already, but Tammy Abraham was instrumental in helping Roma win the Europa Conference League by the end of his high-scoring debut season in Italian football.
By the time he returned to England for the first leg of the semi-final against Leicester City, he had already scored 24 goals for Roma. He would draw a blank at the King Power Stadium as the first leg ended in a draw, but he was the only scorer a week later as Roma claimed their place in the final with a 1-0 win.
After Lorenzo Pellegrini swung in a corner, Abraham rose dominantly to powerfully head the ball home and put Roma through to their first European final since 1991.
Ruggiero Rizzitelli (vs Inter, May 1991)
Speaking of which… that 1991 UEFA Cup final was a two-legged affair against fellow Serie A side Inter. Roma lost the first leg away at San Siro without scoring, but gave themselves hope of a comeback back on home turf when striker Ruggiero Rizzitelli scored.
However, his goal was in the last 10 minutes of the game, so it turned out to be too little, too late, and Inter won 2-1 on aggregate.
Rudi Völler (vs Nürnberg, October 1988)
The striker who started alongside Rizzitelli in both legs of the final was Rudi Völler, who a few years previously had also scored against a club from the same country as himself.
In his case, Völler was looking to make amends for an underwhelming first season in Italian football. The first round of that season’s UEFA Cup gave him the chance to return to (West) Germany, as Roma were drawn against Nürnberg.
While Roma lost the home leg 2-1, Völler scored nine minutes into the second leg on German soil to level the tie on aggregate and they eventually went through. Coincidentally, in the third round, they were eliminated by an East German side, Dynamo Dresden.
Jürgen Schütz (vs Köln, January 1964)
The first German player to represent Roma was Jürgen Schütz, who also came from the western part of the then-divided nation. An attacking midfielder, he arrived from his hometown team Borussia Dortmund in 1963.
During his debut season, Roma reached the quarter-finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. On home soil, Schütz put them ahead against Köln inside eight minutes and later made it 3-0 when he scored a penalty. However, Köln scored a consolation and then thrashed Roma in the return fixture to inflict a 5-3 aggregate defeat upon Luis Miró’s side.
Jürgen Schütz (vs Hertha Berlin, October 1963)
Earlier in the same competition, Roma’s journey began with a battle against Hertha Berlin in the round of 32. At the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Schütz scored the first goal in the 21st minute, before Roma went on to win 3-1.
Two weeks later, Schütz scored four minutes into the game at Roma’s Stadio Olimpico, setting them on their way to another win by a two-goal margin.
Schütz actually scored as many goals for Roma in the Fairs Cup (five) that season as in Serie A, despite playing just five times in the European competition and 15 in the league, and would spend the next two seasons away on loan before a particularly quiet final season in the Italian capital.
Honourable mentions
Another tournament in the 1960s was the Coppa delle Alpi, contested usually between Italian, Swiss, French or German teams. There are four players who represented Roma in it and scored against a side from their homeland, although all but one were against fellow Italians. They were: Lamberto Leonardi and Egidio Guarnacci against Inter in 1963, Schutz against Eintracht Frankfurt in 1967, and Giuliano Taccola against Fiorentina in 1968.
This article was originally published on 25th October, 2024, and has been updated since.
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