In the last game of 2025, Roma welcomed bottom-of-the-table CFC Genoa and secured a deserved 3-1 win on the return of club legend Daniele de Rossi. This resulted in a really interesting league table at the end of the year for the Giallorossi.
It was a very special game on Monday, just before the turn of the year, for Daniele de Rossi, who has only been coaching Genoa since November 2025 and celebrated his return to his eternal love on this 17th matchday of Serie A. Born in Rome, the 2006 World Cup winner rose to become an absolute club legend alongside Francesco Totti between 2000 and 2019. In addition, the 42-year-old had coached the capital club in 2024 before a surprise departure followed in the same year.
Now active with the Giallorossi: Gian Piero Gasperini, who had even led his protégés to first place in what has been a good season so far and a good year overall (almost reaching the Champions League in the summer under savior and current club advisor Claudio Ranieri).
Most recently, however, there was a narrow 1-2 defeat to Juventus, which the hosts wanted to follow up with a clean three points against CFC Genoa from 2025. An endeavor that succeeded.
1, 2, 3: Rome makes short work of Genoa
After a manageable first ten minutes, the hosts took full control of the game at the Olimpico and showed the underdogs a series of strong combination plays. De Rossi’s protégés were often left watching from behind, appearing overwhelmed and simply not good enough.
The early consequences were that Soulé was left unmarked after an unfortunate header from opponent Vasquez and, thanks to a decisive touch from Otoa, scored to make it 1-0 (14′). Just five minutes later, former Gladbach player Koné scored after a neat passing move, making it 2-0 after less than 20 minutes.
But that wasn’t all: Malinovskyi, who had won the ball in his own penalty area, fatally passed it back into the box to the lurking Soulé. Sommariva was able to parry his shot, but Ferguson pounced on the rebound to make it 3-0 (31′). The score at halftime remained unchanged, partly because Koné hit the post (38′), Vitinha shot over after a mistake by Cristante (41′), and Östigaard failed to get his header past Svilar from close range and was denied a penalty after being punched (45’+2). Thus, the underdog was still in the game.
Serie A race: It couldn’t be any closer
The Genoese, who are in the midst of a relegation battle, were unable to make any real headway in this final Serie A game of 2025. The Giallorossi continued to dominate the second 45 minutes with players such as Dybala in fine form, repeatedly passing the ball around neatly. Cristante had a chance to make it 4-0 (72nd minute, great save by Sommariva) and El Shaarawy had two chances. The substitute first sent a volley just wide to the left (73rd minute) before a well-executed overhead kick was blocked before it could hit the target (82nd minute).
In the end, a late deflected shot from Genoa’s Ekhator (87′) sealed a comfortable 3-1 home win – and a minor setback for the loudly celebrated returnee de Rossi and his CFC protégés. With a successful end to the year, the Giallorossi also ensured a crazy table picture. In 2026, leaders Inter Milan and their pursuers Milan, champions Napoli, Roma and record champions Juventus are all on 36, 35, 34, 33 and 32 points respectively.
