Roma are top of Serie A after the first round of fixtures for the first time in a decade.
Obviously, it matters far more where Roma will be after 38 games than after one, but it doesn’t harm the mood surrounding Gian Piero Gasperini’s second season in charge.
So, what have the other instances been of Roma making the strongest start in the opening weekend of Serie A – and where did they go on to finish?
2026-27
Roma were involved in the last game of the opening weekend for 2026-27, starting their season on a Monday night for the first time in their history.
Thus, when they went three goals up against Fiorentina via Donyell Malen’s hat-trick, they already knew that just one more goal would put them out in front in the league standings, above an Inter side that had beaten Monza 4-1 two days earlier.
Niccolò Pisilli provided the required goal late on to lift Roma above the defending champions.
2016-17
After finishing the 2015-16 season revived under Luciano Spalletti, Roma set out strongly in his first (and only) full season in charge after his return to the club.
A 4-0 win over Udinese, sealed by a pair of Diego Perotti penalties and late goals by Edin Džeko and Mohamed Salah, was the best result in the opening weekend of the 2016-17 season.
Roma remained top of the league only for one week, but never fell out of the top four all season. By the end of it, they broke their club record for points obtained and goals scored in a Serie A season, but still finished second behind Juventus.
1990-91
New Roma boss Ottavio Bianchi got off to a blistering start in the 1990-91 season, with a 4-0 win over Fiorentina.
Rudi Völler opened the scoring before Fausto Salsano doubled the lead and Andrea Carnevale added a brace.
However, Roma lost a week later and dropped out of the top four, never to return that season as they finished 9th. It would instead become a campaign characterised by cup runs to the finals of the UEFA Cup (which they lost) and Coppa Italia (which they won).
1962-63
Prior to 1980, teams level on points in Serie A weren’t separated by goal difference or any other tie-breaking factor, instead literally being listed as shared occupants of a position in the table.
Thus, unless only one team won on the opening weekend, it was impossible for them to be the outright leaders after one game.
But had a system similar to today been in place, Roma would have led the way after matchday one in 1962-63 thanks to their 3-0 win over Napoli. Torbjörn Jonsson scored a brace to follow up Giampaolo Menichelli’s opener.
Roma finished 5th at the end of the season.
1955-56 (joint-top)
After the appointment of György Sárosi as their new coach, Roma kicked things off with a 4-1 win over L.R. Vicenza in the 1955-56 season. István Nyers scored a brace, with Dino Da Costa and Carlo Galli adding to the scoring.
Admittedly, Roma would only have been joint top, since Bologna also won 4-1 against Genoa. But ‘AS Roma’ comes before Bologna alphabetically…
Roma’s final position that season was 6th. Sárosi didn’t make it to the end of the following campaign.
1953-54
In their second season back in Serie A, Roma made a strong start with a 4-0 win over Genoa. After an own goal by the visitors, Galli, Egisto Pandolfini and Alcides Ghiggia scored to wrap up the result.
Roma changed managers partway through the season, placing former Huddersfield Town assistant Jesse Carver in charge. They ultimately finished 6th.
1937-38
The first case of Roma having the biggest win from the opening round came a decade after their formation. With new boss Guido Ara at the helm, they claimed a 4-0 win over Fiorentina, which included a hat-trick by Danilo Michelini.
Roma eventually finished 6th that season.
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