Roma v Atalanta: pre-match notes
Stories and trivia on the road to our first Serie A away day of 2026/27 against the Giallorossi
With the opening two home fixtures of the 2026/27 Serie A season now in the books, it’s time for Atalanta to hit the road. The Nerazzurri’s first away trip of the campaign takes them to the capital, where Roma await at the Olimpico on Saturday 5 September at 20:45 CEST. After back-to-back games in Bergamo, the Nerazzurri’s league campaign heads away from home for the first time, with Matchday 3 taking them on the road. Ahead of kick-off, it’s time for stories, stats and trivia to set the scene for Roma-Atalanta.
From Saturday to Saturday...
Just a few months on, Roma-Atalanta returns to the Olimpico — and once again on a Saturday. The sides also met on a Saturday last 18 April, when the game ended 1-1, while the previous meeting in the capital on the same day of the week dates back to 5 March 2022.
Curiously, the last four Serie A meetings between Roma and Atalanta played on a Saturday are perfectly balanced: one win apiece and two draws. Before last April’s 1-1, Roma claimed a 1-0 win in 2022, the Nerazzurri prevailed 2-1 in 2018, while the 2017 encounter also ended 1-1.
Krstović’s early goal is cancelled out by Hermoso. It ends 1–1 in Saturday night’s Serie A MD33 opener at the Stadio Olimpico between AS Roma and Atalanta.
A first on Matchday 3
Saturday’s Roma-Atalanta will occupy uncharted territory in the calendar. For the first time, the Serie A meeting at the Olimpico will take place on Matchday 3, an unusually early slot for a fixture that has historically featured much more often in the latter stages of the campaign. Matchday 33 is the most frequent, with five previous meetings, the latest being last April’s 1-1 draw.
Only twice have Atalanta visited Roma even earlier in a Serie A season: both on Matchday 2 and both without defeat. The first came on 10 September 1995, when Christian Vieri’s penalty secured a 1-0 Nerazzurri win. That victory earned its own place in the history books, as it was Atalanta’s first-ever three-point win in Serie A, after the rule had been introduced the previous season, which the Nerazzurri had spent in Serie B.
The second came on 27 August 2018, when Roma and Atalanta played out a thrilling 3-3 draw: Castagne’s goal was followed by a brace from Emiliano Rigoni, making his Atalanta debut.
Nerazzurri trend in the capital
In recent years, the Olimpico has often been a happy hunting ground for Atalanta. Across their last 12 Serie A trips to face Roma, the Nerazzurri have recorded five wins and six draws, with the Giallorossi taking all three points on just one occasion. The goalscoring record also favours Atalanta, with 17 goals scored to Roma’s 10.
Roma’s only win in that run came on 5 March 2022, bringing an end to a sequence of seven consecutive unbeaten trips to the Olimpico for Atalanta. It proved to be only a brief interruption: the following four visits have produced two wins and two draws, culminating in last April’s 1-1.
Before the Olimpico
The last Roma-Atalanta of the pre-Olimpico era dates back to 19 April 1953. At the Stadio Nazionale, the sides played out a 2-2 draw, with Giovanni Brugola scoring both Nerazzurri goals within the space of ten minutes. Just a few weeks later, the Stadio Olimpico would open its doors and go on to become the stage for the fixture in the capital.
Atalanta had to wait until 31 December 1955 for their first goal at the new ground: after two consecutive 0-0 draws, Adriano Bassetto opened the Nerazzurri’s account at the Olimpico, before adding a second in the eventual 3-2 defeat.
Statistical data: Lega Serie A Pre-Match Pointers