AS Roma Profits from Top-Four Chaos

ROME, MONDAY – The defeats suffered by AC Milan, Napoli, and Juventus were maximally utilized by AS Roma to solidify their position in the top four zone. "The Wolves" defeated Cremonese 3-0 on Monday (23/2/2026 WIB) at the Olimpico Stadium to equalize points with Napoli and create distance from Juventus.

Three points for Roma in the 26th week of the 2025-2026 Italian League were secured through a hat-trick after halftime. The central midfielder and team captain, Bryan Cristante, made 59,025 supporters roar with his header from a corner kick delivered by Lorenzo Pellegrini in the 59th minute.

Two additional goals for Roma were scored by Evan N’Dicka (77’) and Niccolò Pisilli (86’), marking their names on the scoreboard for the first time in this season's Serie A. The shots from both players left the Indonesian goalkeeper of Cremonese, Emil Audero, powerless and unable to make a save.

Undoubtedly, Roma has managed to accumulate 50 points from 26 matches. They have matched the points total of Napoli, who lost 1-2 to Atalanta on Sunday (22/2/2026) evening WIB. Roma remains in fourth place, while Napoli is in third position due to the difference in head-to-head records.

Napoli deserves to be ranked higher than Roma due to their superiority in two encounters this season. Roma drew 2-2 in the second meeting last weekend, and then fell 0-1 in the first match against Napoli, the defending champion of Serie A.

On the other hand, Roma closed the point gap from second place, AC Milan. One hour before kick-off at the Olimpico, Milan fell 0-1 to Parma at the San Siro Stadium. The distance between the two teams is now four points.

This situation also prevented Milan from applying pressure on Inter, the league leader. The gap between Inter and the nearest competitor has become 10 points, which is the largest advantage for the top rank in this season's Italian League.

Not only that, Roma also extended their lead over Juve, who are in fifth place. Roma has surpassed Juve by a margin of four points. This gap could potentially widen if Roma manages to defeat Juve in the match of week 27, next week.

"Next Sunday's match (against Juve) will be crucial because a win would be a huge step forward for us. However, with my experience at Atalanta, where we qualified for the Champions League five times in seven seasons, we are very confident that the top-four race will be decided in the final matches of the season," said Roma coach Gian Piero Gasperini, as reported by Corriere dello Sport.

It has been six seasons since Si Serigala was eliminated from the competition in the elite club tournament in Europe. They last appeared in the Champions League in the 2018-2019 edition.

That achievement was attained by Roma by finishing the 2017-2018 season in third place. During the period from 2014-2015 to 2018-2019, or five consecutive seasons, Roma never missed out on the Champions League.

Gasperini does not hide his ambition to bring Roma back to compete in the Champions League next season. In addition to competing with Milan, Napoli, and Juve, Gasperini mentioned two other teams, namely Como and Atalanta, his former team, still have a chance to push into the top four zone.

Thanks to the victory in the 26th week, Como (Juve's opponent) and Atalanta both have 45 points. With 12 matches remaining, everything is still open in the competition for the Champions League.

"The victory tonight is important to give us a small advantage for the coming weeks. However, no team has been able to secure a position in the standings yet," said Gasperini.

Defeating Cremonese by a margin of three goals demonstrates the depth of Roma's squad, particularly in the attacking line. Gasperini prepared his team to face Cremonese without the presence of two key forwards, Paulo Dybala and Matias Soulé, who are suffering from injuries.

The same situation was also experienced by three other forwards, namely Stephan El Shaarawy, Artem Dovbyk, and Evan Ferguson. The depth of the squad became increasingly threatened when defender Mario Hermoso encountered a muscle issue during the warm-up before the first half.

In the midst of that less-than-ideal situation, Roma recorded a victory with the largest margin in the Gasperini era. Throughout this season, they had not achieved a win by more than two goals.

"I am fortunate to have several senior players who helped me at the beginning of the season to inspire the young players. The new players have also adapted well. Undoubtedly, this is closely related to the positive atmosphere created by Claudio Ranieri last season," said Gasperini. Ranieri also watched the match from the Olimpico's naratama stands.

Meanwhile, disappointment looms over Milan. In addition to losing important points, "I Rossoneri" also lost two key players: defender Matteo Gabbia and midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

Gabbia did not play against Parma due to an injury during warm-up, while Loftus-Cheek suffered a serious collision with Parma's goalkeeper, Edoardo Corvi, resulting in him receiving medical attention and being carried off the field.

"We have gone through a number of unfavorable moments," said Milan's assistant coach, Marco Landucci, who took over the role of Massimiliano Allegri on the sidelines due to a red card suspension.

"The team is very disappointed. We do not need to think about other teams. The main focus is on our journey to achieve our goal of returning to the Champions League," added Landucci. (AP)