Roma's Kone and Dybala injury concerns after Madrid collapse

Roma coach Gian Piero Gasperini confirmed muscular concerns for Manu Kone and Paulo Dybala after his side’s late collapse against Real Madrid, with Kone’s problem appearing the more serious of the two. Dybala felt tightness in his calf before being taken off, adding to a brutal night in which Roma let a 3-1 advantage disappear.

Roma had controlled much of the contest and were still creating opportunities late on, but Real Madrid struck three times from corners in a dramatic finish. Gasperini said his players had been strong for 80 minutes before becoming “paralyzed” at the decisive moment, having shown no such vulnerability when Madrid won set-pieces earlier in the match.

“They scored far too easily,” Gasperini said. “In a game of this level, those incidents cannot happen. It is difficult to recover after a defeat like this, but we have to begin again from the performance before the goals. We must react, otherwise all the good work is wiped away.”

Madrid coach Jose Mourinho claimed Roma had run out of energy after going 3-1 ahead, saying the Italian side believed the match was over when “the Roma players were dead.” Gasperini rejected that assessment emphatically, arguing that Madrid had been second best outside their effectiveness from dead-ball situations.

“I don’t think so,” Gasperini replied. “It looked to me as though they were the ones who could not go on. We could have scored more goals and they were outplayed in every area. The goals count, of course, and they used their physicality well, but otherwise they were not at the level required.”

Set-piece weakness punished

Gasperini accepted that Roma struggled once Madrid began loading the penalty area with bigger bodies. He described it as an area his team must address, particularly against opponents who rely heavily on physical pressure and send numbers forward at corners and other deliveries.

He also pointed to a failure of composure in the final 10 minutes, suggesting Roma did not fully recognise how critical the situation had become. “Maybe we lacked personality and did not understand the importance of that moment,” he said. “It is part of football, even if it is unusual. We need the strength to take those 80 good minutes and answer this setback.”

Gasperini insisted the loss was not caused by a general physical decline. Roma continued to play after Madrid’s equalising surge and could have executed several attacking moves better, he said, but the decisive damage came from the set-pieces. The coach maintained that his team had shown it can compete with Europe’s leading sides, while warning that the swing from euphoria to defeat must be processed quickly.

Roma will now assess Kone and Dybala, with Gasperini expecting Kone’s muscular issue to require closer attention. He described such knocks as a risk in high-intensity matches but promised a strong response from his squad.