AS Roma - Inter Milan: The day Gasperini faces… Gasperini

18/10/2025 08:00:00 pandatv

You are not mistaken. As the highly anticipated Roma - Inter match of Serie A Round 7 approaches, analyzing the statistics and performances of both teams this season reveals a Gasperini versus Gasperini showdown at the Olimpico.

Roma stands as one of Serie A’s greatest contradictions this season, with Gasperini’s squad lacking the usual "Gasperini" characteristics that defined his earlier teams at Palermo, Genoa, and Atalanta.

From Gasperini to "Gasprinho"

Statistics indicate: No club across Europe has conceded fewer goals since the start of 2025 (13 goals, compared to 19 by Napoli, 21 by Bilbao and Arsenal, 22 by Bayern and Atalanta). Nor does any team in Europe’s top leagues have a defense as solid as Roma’s this season. Roma has only allowed opponents to score twice in 6 Serie A matches, while Arsenal conceded 3 goals in 7 games, similarly Milan and Bayern allowed 3 in 6 matches.

Despite lacking quality forwards (Roma only added Leon Bailey who got injured before playing, and a young Evan Ferguson), and Paulo Dybala being inconsistent, Gasperini has turned Roma into a fortress. Goalkeeper Mile Svilar remains alert, and the central defensive trio of Evan Ndicka, Gianluca Mancini, and Zeki Celik is rock solid. That explains why Roma, with a very limited attack scoring just 7 goals in 6 matches—the fewest among the leading teams in major leagues—can still be tied with Napoli atop Serie A. Simply put, when Roma scores, they win. With those 7 goals, Roma has won 5 out of 6 matches, 4 of which were by just one goal, including 3 wins of 1-0.

A Rome-based newspaper commented: "Roma is being coached by a manager even more Mourinho-like than Mourinho himself. Let’s call him Gasprinho."

The Gasperini vs. Chivu clash will be the highlight of Serie A Round 7

When Gasperini has "inhabited" Chivu

Inter is the complete opposite of Roma. They have scored 17 goals in 6 matches this season, the highest in the league, with 10 different scorers, playing a style very similar to Gasperini’s philosophy: high pressing, moving the ball forward as quickly as possible, and relentless attacking desire.

Under Simone Inzaghi, Inter’s defense usually pushed up to an average of 26.8 meters, but with Christian Chivu, this has increased to 34.7 meters, indicating an even higher defensive line. Inter still uses a 3-5-2 formation like in Inzaghi’s time, but Chivu prefers to limit building from the back and instead plays long balls to fast attackers. These changes show Chivu is learning from Gasperini and openly admits it. The attacking results are clear: 17 goals in the first 6 matches this season, 4 more than the same period last season, 2 more than the first 6 rounds of 2023/24, and 5 more than the same period in 2022/23. Inter will miss Marcus Thuram on Saturday due to injury, but they still have the resilient Lautaro Martinez, the powerful Ange-Yoan Bonny, and the confident Francesco Pio Esposito, who recently scored for Italy.

Roma vs. Inter promises to be a fantastic duel. Top-tier defense meets elite attack. The team that has won 5 of 6 Serie A matches faces the side that has won their last 5 matches in Serie A and the Champions League. Roma is eager to break the home winless streak against Inter since 2016 (3 draws, 5 losses). A Gasperini adapting his style faces a "Gasperini" growing in the form of his former pupil. The veteran coach with 605 Serie A matches goes up against the younger one, who has only 19 Serie A games as head coach. This "former pupil" label opens another chapter in the history between Gasperini and Chivu, who is now opposing the club he played for 4 years (2003-2007) before moving to Inter (2007-2014).

Their past intersected in summer 2011 when Gasperini was appointed Inter’s head coach. It was a fatal step for him. Gasperini and Inter lost to Milan in the Italian Super Cup just before the season started. They began Serie A with a defeat to Palermo, then lost again to Trabzonspor in the Champions League group stage. Rumors spread about dissatisfaction among some veteran Inter players who opposed Gasperini’s plan to switch to a 3-center-back system instead of four defenders. Leading this group was Chivu.

On the evening of September 20, 2011, in Novara, Inter lost 1-3 to the newly promoted team, and Gasperini was dismissed by President Massimo Moratti, replaced by Claudio Ranieri, who was later also sacked. Fourteen years later, Ranieri is the patron who brought Gasperini to Roma, while Chivu now leads Inter and is determined to do everything possible to overthrow Gasperini again like back then.

Will he succeed once more?

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