Roma’s Pre-Season: Dybala Shines in 6–0 Victory
Roma’s pre-season opened with a routine scoreline but a significant message. The first run-out under Gian Piero Gasperini ended in a 6–0 win over the club’s Primavera side, and at the heart of it all, once again, stood Paulo Dybala.
This wasn’t a star easing his way back with a few gentle touches. According to TuttoMercatoWeb, Dybala looked like the same force who dragged Roma through the final stretch of last season: sharp between the lines, ruthless in the box, and a step ahead in every attacking move. He finished with two goals and an assist, but the real headline was his condition. He has reported back in strikingly good physical shape, the one variable that has always threatened to cap his influence.
Gasperini has been clear from the moment he arrived: a fit Dybala changes everything. He has repeated it often enough to sound like a mantra. On this evidence, the coach’s faith has not dimmed. If the Argentine’s fitness record allows him a clean run, this was the kind of opening act that can tilt a season’s expectations.
There was another encouraging sight in attack. Artem Dovbyk, fresh from the tendon surgery that ruined the closing weeks of his campaign, stepped back onto the pitch with the urgency of a man who knows the clock is ticking on his Roma future. He scored twice, could have had more, and played with the sort of edge that comes from reading your own name in transfer rumours.
His situation is delicate. Dovbyk has been mentioned as a possible sale to help finance new arrivals, with Roma pushing on targets such as Crysencio Summerville. These next few weeks, then, are not just about rhythm and conditioning for the Ukrainian; they are an audition. Gasperini must decide whether the striker is a cornerstone of his project or a sacrifice to reshape the squad.
For now, though, Roma walk away from their first friendly with exactly what any new coach craves: their most gifted player looking electric, a returning striker scoring freely, and a sense that the real battles, the ones that will define who stays and who goes, are only just beginning.
