Roma have not played a Champions League match since 2018-19, and Gasperini used his pre-match media duties on Wednesday to name the player he expects to carry them through it.
“Dybala is proving his worth,” Gasperini told reporters at Trigoria, via Romapress.
“The level he’s reached this early season is the best he’s been in recent seasons. He has extraordinary consistency, and with him, we’re stronger.”
Roma arrive in Turkey unbeaten after three Serie A rounds, sitting top with Inter on a perfect record. Gasperini’s side have opened with wins against Fiorentina, Lecce and Atalanta, and the eight-match Serie A winning run, five from the end of last season, three at the start of this one, has made Gasperini only the third manager in Roma’s history to string together that many league victories in a row, behind Luciano Spalletti and Rudi Garcia.
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Back on the biggest stage
The trip to Fenerbahçe on Thursday is Roma’s first Champions League fixture since 2018-19, and Gasperini did not hide his curiosity about what he will find there.
“Roma have been missing from the Champions League for years, but they’ve done well in the Europa League. Matchday one always arouses curiosity,” he said, via Romapress.
“This is a new competition for Roma, and we, too, are a little curious to measure ourselves up against the best teams in the world,” he told AllFootball ahead of the tie.
Gasperini’s own European record gives the confidence a spine. He took Atalanta to the Champions League quarter-finals on their debut in 2019-20, and in May 2024 he beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the Europa League final in Dublin, the first major European trophy of his career and Atalanta’s first ever.
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Respect for Fenerbahçe, focus on Dybala
The Italian was careful not to treat the trip to Istanbul as a soft opener.
“We must have great respect for our opponents,” he said, quoted by Romapress. “Fenerbahçe have a very deep squad; they won’t pay dearly for the absences of Asensio and Guendouzi. We’ll face a very strong Fenerbahçe.”
For all the caution around the tie, the loudest message was about the man in his own dressing room. Roma have carried Dybala through several stop-start seasons of muscle trouble, and Gasperini said the change this year is that he has been available and steady.
“He is extraordinarily consistent both in training and during matches, so these are the results,” Gasperini said.
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Roma play Fenerbahçe at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in Istanbul on Thursday, 10 September, with kick-off at 18:45 local time.
