Celtic Vs AS Roma [0–3] – UEFA Europa League 2025/2026: How Gian Piero Gasperini Pressing Crushed Wilfried Nancy Debut – Tactical Analysis

Celtic hosted AS Roma for the UEFA Europa League sixth fixture at Celtic Park, and the match ended with a convincing 0-3 away win for Roma.

Celtic’s change of manager and playing system made things a bit complicated for the team, mainly because they faced a very organised team with experience in using the 3-4-2-1 system effectively.

Celtic will need to bounce back as soon as possible after their inconsistent UEFA Europa League results so far to guarantee a qualifying spot.

On the other hand, Roma reacted powerfully following their latest league loss, confirming they will not be going through a crisis and that the loss was just a temporary dip in form.

Winning an away game at a difficult stadium like that of Celtic while scoring three goals can only confirm that Gian Piero Gasperini’s side is gaining a lot in terms of personality, confidence, and ability to win complicated games.

This tactical analysis article explores Roma’s high-pressing plan and how it helped limit Celtic’s threats and turn their playmaking attempts into dangerous counterattacking actions.

The analysis will also assess Roma’s attacking trio and how they were decisive in this match.

Celtic Vs Roma Lineups & Formations

Wilfried Nancy started the match using the 3-4-3 formation with Kasper Schmeichel as a goalkeeper, and a defensive line made up of Auston Trusty, Liam Scales, and Kieran Tierney as centre-backs.

The midfield featured Callum McGregor and Reo Hatate as central midfielders, and Sebastian Tounekti and Yang Hyun-Jun as wing-backs.

In attack, the team relied on Benjamin Nygren and Arne Engels as wingers to support the striker Daizen Maeda.

On the other hand, Gasperini used his preferred 3-4-2-1 formation with Mile Svilar in goal, and a defensive line of three centre-backs: Gianluca Mancini on the right, Evan Ndicka in the centre, and Mario Hermoso on the left.

The midfield line featured Zeki Çelik and Devyne Rensch as right and left wing-backs, with Niccolò Pisilli and Neil El Aynaoui as central midfielders.

In attack, Roma used both Matías Soulé and Stephan El Shaarawy as advanced playmakers, often as wingers, with Evan Ferguson as the central striker.

Roma Pressing & Attacking Efficiency

Roma impressively started this match, using Gasperini’s exceptional, aggressive pressing method to block most, if not all, of Celtic’s playmaking attempts and prevent their attacking players from receiving passes.

It was as simple as that, despite the fact that saying it is much easier than executing it without mistakes.

Roma made use of the similarities in formations between the two teams, which helped them apply man-marking without confusion, since everyone knew their direct opponent.

Roma’s three attacking players were pressing high on Celtic’s three centre-backs, and the two central midfielders joined them to press on Celtic’s two central midfielders inside Celtic’s own third as well.

This complicated Celtic’s build-up from the back and obliged them to resort to the wing-backs or attacking players each time.

But what was applied with even more discipline and made the difference for the Giallorossi is the fact that both Celtic’s wing-backs got tightly marked by Roma’s both wing-backs too.

This left Celtic with no choice but to opt for long or through passes to one of the attacking players.

Roma Tight Marking & Recoveries Inside Celtic Half

In this regard, Roma knew that this would be Celtic’s final solution to their high pressing.

Therefore, they made sure to try to intercept and anticipate as many passes as possible when Celtic tried to pass to the attacking players.

All of Hermoso, Ndicka, and Mancini succeeded in being very anticipatory when it comes to passes, in addition to their excellent tight marking that obliged Celtic’s attacking players to either lose the ball or opt for backward passes.

It is important to note that Hermoso made five interceptions and 10 recoveries, Mancini made six interceptions and 10 recoveries, and Ndicka made three interceptions and 15 recoveries.

This high number of recoveries included many inside Celtic’s own half, further highlighting the effective, very attentive, and well-executed high pressing by Roma’s players.

The following picture highlights one of the very recurrent Roma recoveries inside Celtic’s own half, which allowed Roma to launch some very quick attacking transitions.

This paves the way for us to focus on Roma’s attacking play and examine how they scored three goals in one half of the match.

Roma Attacking Transitions

Although Roma benefited from a Celtic defensive mistake during their first goal action, which resulted in an own goal, it counts for the Giallorossi that they did not stop or retreat to defend their lead but continued striving for a second and a third goal.

They exploited their recurrent recoveries to launch quick attacking transitions relying mainly on both wings-backs and especially on El Shaarawy and Soulé to create the threat inside the final third and serve Ferguson.

What helped Roma succeed even further was the quick passing and continuous movement without the ball, which helped the ball holder find passing solutions quickly.

Circulating the ball quickly, even when building from the back, was remarkable for Roma and prevented Celtic from defending effectively or limiting their ball progressions from the wings.

Furthermore, whenever Roma advance with the ball into the final third, the ball holder usually finds reliable passing options, making the attack much more dangerous.

Roma attacked in numbers during the first half, and the movement without the ball, especially from El Shaarawy, Soulé, and Ferguson, was crucial in breaking Celtic’s defensive line.

The following action highlights one of the first dangerous attacking actions that Roma succeeded in creating, thanks to Soulé’s cutting inside and immediate movement towards the box to attract a defender and provide a passing option for El Shaarawy.

At the same time, Ferguson was positioning himself between two defenders and making the needed movement to receive a potential cross.

All of this offers multiple solutions to El Shaarawy at the moment of receiving the ball, something that has made Roma more dangerous against Celtic’s defence.

On this occasion, El Shaarawy opted for the curved shot after receiving the pass from Soulé in an inviting zone, but what facilitated this choice and made the shooting trajectory clear was Soulé’s movement towards the box following his pass.

Roma High Recoveries

Roma kept trying to score, relying mainly on their high pressing efforts, and perhaps El Aynaoui’s interception inside Celtic’s own third at the 26th minute was the most dangerous one before Roma succeeded in scoring the second and third goals.

Such recoveries inside Celtic’s own third were extremely dangerous on the Scottish side as they helped Roma expose Celtic’s defence and be able to reach their goal quite easily.

On that occasion, El Aynaoui got the ball and immediately served Ferguson, who was remarkable in terms of attacking positioning during the first half and succeeded in dangerously exploiting all received passes.

Ferguson received the pass in a perfect position, fixed his direct marker, and shot on goal with power, only for his shot to hit the post and go out.

Roma Overlaps On The Wings & Second Goal Action

The overlaps between Rensch and Çelik were very useful for Roma in this match, as they helped create numerical superiority in the final third, especially on the wings, where Celtic defended poorly and did not take the necessary measures to limit penetrations on both sides.

The result was that Soulé and Çelik were able to create gaps in Celtic’s lines and advance without tight marking, as Çelik’s overlaps helped Soulé find solutions when he chose not to go internally, as in the second goal action.

During this action, Çelik made a run down the right wing at the right time to exploit the space behind Celtic’s defender and be able to cross to the box.

At the same time, Ferguson proved that he should not remain a backup option and deserves a spot as the starting striker, especially because he meets the requirements of a pure striker.

As Gasperini has been relying on Paulo Dybala and, at times, Tommaso Baldanzi for that role, Ferguson confirmed to the Italian head coach that he needs to give him more chances as a starter, simply because the Irishman knows how to score goals.

More importantly, he proved that he prepares everything needed to score and makes the right movements without the ball, at the right time, to anticipate defenders and be clinical in front of goal.

These goalscoring traits and striker mindset have been lacking in Roma over the last period, and that’s perhaps one of the reasons they’re less dangerous than their direct opponents for the league title, especially in direct encounters.

With such clinical finishing and key positioning, Ferguson silenced his doubters.

He proved to Gasperini that using him over the next few games would not be a mistake but an intelligent choice.

Roma’s third goal was even more telling of Ferguson’s ability to deal with passes received with his back to the goal and his ability to turn and shoot with accuracy while leaving no time for the direct marker to stop him or intercept the ball.

What Roma have won from this match, apart from the three points, is the efficiency of all of El Shaarawy, Soulé, and Ferguson, and the chemistry that the three of them showed when playing alongside each other.

This is something Gasperini can build on for future games, whether when trying to force a turnover or when needing to change his attacking lineup in complicated games.

Conclusion

Roma were intelligent in how they approached the game, surprising Celtic with their efficient, disciplined, and very aggressive high pressing, which disrupted Celtic and helped them score the three goals in the first half.

Celtic will need to further train in their new formation to play more as a unit and limit their mistakes, whether in attack or defence.

Furthermore, they will have to prepare to face teams like Roma, who do their best to prevent them from building from the back and use man-marking to limit the opponent’s attacking threats.