Champions League Matchday 2: Roma vs Real Madrid facts
Tuesday, October 6, 2026
Article summary
Previous meetings, club facts and key stats ahead of the UEFA Champions League Matchday 2 game.
Article top media content
Article body
José Mourinho faces another reunion with one of his former clubs as he takes Real Madrid to Roma on UEFA Champions League Matchday 2.
Previous meetings
This is the sides' 13th fixture; Madrid have won eight of the previous 12 to Roma's three. Victories at home (3-0) and away (2-0) in the last meetings, in the 2018/19 group stage, made it four successive Madrid wins without conceding, and five victories in the teams' six games in Rome (L1).
Roma have only two wins in their last 11 matches against Spanish clubs (D4 L5) but have lost only two of their last seven home matches against Liga visitors (W3 D2). They beat Athletic Club 2-1 in the last, in the 2024/25 UEFA Europa League round of 16 first leg, but lost the return 1-3.
A 2-1 home success against Inter, another of Mourinho's former clubs, on Matchday 1 made it 20 wins in Madrid's last 22 games against Italian clubs (L2).
Madrid have won their last nine away games against Serie A sides, most recently 3-2 at Atalanta on Matchday 6 in 2024/25.
Form guide
The Giallorossi are ending a seven-season absence from the Champions League proper; this is their 12th appearance overall. The last, in 2018/19, ended in a 3-4 aggregate defeat by Porto in the round of 16.
Roma spent 2025/26 in the Europa League, finishing eighth in the league phase (W5 D1 L2) before losing an all-Italian tie 4-5 against Bologna in the round of 16.
Madrid are in the Champions League proper for the 31st time, a competition record they share with Barcelona. They last missed out in 1996/97 and have qualified for the knockout rounds in all 30 campaigns. This is their 57th season of European Cup football.
In 2025/26 Madrid were 11th in the league phase (W5 L3), beating Benfica (3-1 aggregate) and Manchester City (5-1) in the knockout phase before losing in the quarter-finals against Bayern (4-6).
Links and trivia
Mourinho was Roma coach from 2021 to 2024, leading them to victory in the inaugural UEFA Conference League in 2021/22 and the Europa League final the following season.
Madrid defender Dean Huijsen played 24 matches for Roma during a 2024 loan from Juventus while Antonio Rüdiger made 72 appearances for the Giallorossi between 2015 and 2017.
Paolo Dybala and Donyell Malen have both suffered defeats in Champions League finals against Madrid – Dybala with Juventus in 2017, Malen with Dortmund in 2024.
A 1-1 draw at Fenerbahçe on Matchday 1 means Roma have lost only three of their last 15 European league phase games (W8 D4).
Roma have lost only one of their last eight matches in UEFA competition (W4 D3).
The Giallorossi have won eight of their last nine home Champions League matches (L1).
None of Madrid's last 68 matches at this stage finished goalless, since a 0-0 draw at Paris Saint-Germain in October 2015.
Madrid have not drawn any of their last 32 European matches, since the 2023/24 semi-final first leg at Bayern (2-2).
Kylian Mbappé has made 99 Champions League appearances. Aged 27 years 298 days, he could become the youngest player to reach a century of games in the competition, beating Lionel Messi's record (28 years 84 days, set against Roma in September 2015).