AS Roma‘s explosive start to the 2026-27 Serie A season has already brought back fans memories of one of their club’s most famous legendary attacking partnerships.
Following Roma’s emphatic 4-0 victory over Fiorentina at the Stadio Olimpico, the chemistry between Paulo Dybala and Donyell Malen which was immediately fans began compared to the legendary partnership of Gabriel Batistuta and Francesco Totti from the club’s Scudetto-winning 2000-01 season.
The comparison was fueled by exceptional individual performances from both players. Dybala provided all three assists for Malen’s hat trick, resulting in a string of goals that made the duo appear almost telepathically connected.
Malen opened the scoring after 27 minutes of kick-off, then added his second after seven minutes into the second half and finished his hat-trick on the 60th minute. Niccolo Pisilli scored a fourth goal to seal Roma’s victory for 4-0.
It was the type of performance that piqued the interest of Roma fans. Dybala was the creative force, consistently finding gaps between Fiorentina’s defensive lines and delivering the final pass, while Malen provided the ruthless finishing needed to convert those opportunities into goals.
The Argentine had three assists, four chances created, and 62 touches, while Malen scored three goals on five shots.
This made the fans felt resemblance to Rome’s golden age, which is therefore easy to understand. This prompted online fans to post edited images of Battistuta and Totti together, changing their faces to Dylen and Dybala.
Meanwhile, the original, unedited photo was taken on August 19, 2001, at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico during the pre-match lineup for the 2001 Supercoppa Italiana.
Professional photojournalists captured Gabriel Batistuta and Francesco Totti in their iconic red Kappa home kits with the Italian Scudetto patch, just before AS Roma defeated (coincidentally the same opponent the current squad won against) Fiorentina 3-0 to win the trophy.
Batistuta and Totti represented two opposing attacking styles: the Argentine was an explosive, powerful goalscorer, whereas Totti combined technical ability, vision, and creativity with an exceptional understanding of the final third.
Dybala and Malen provide a modern interpretation of the same basic formula. Dybala can drop deeper and dictate attacking moves, whereas Malen’s pace, movement, and finishing allow him to attack the gaps left by his teammate.
Fans then also compared the duo to the iconic image of arguably the greatest NBA duo, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, on the X(Twitter).
The iconic photo, taken on December 6, 2010, shows LeBron James fast-break dunk off a blind, trailing bounce pass from Dwyane Wade during a Miami Heat game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The image perfectly frames Wade celebrating with outstretched arms before LeBron even flushes the ball home, cementing it as an eternal symbol of sports chemistry.
The fans simply compares them to a football striker pairing of Dybala and Malen, employs football terminology to describe how the duo functioned as a lethal, highly synchronized attacking front line, with one elite playmaker seamlessly setting up a clinical finish on a devastating counterattack.
The reaction to the match has heightened the comparisons, with Roma-related social media accounts and Italian football coverage emphasizing the striking similarities between the two partnerships.
The nostalgia is especially strong among Roma fans, who remember how Batistuta and Totti helped the club win its historic third Serie A title in 2000-01.
However, statistical evidence suggests that Malen’s impact in Rome is more than a one-off event. Since joining Roma, the Dutch forward has established himself as one of the club’s most dangerous attacking players, and his latest hat-trick adds to his impressive scoring record. According to Goal, he has now scored 18 goals and assisted three times in 21 competitive appearances with Roma.
For manager Gian Piero Gasperini, the performance demonstrated the attacking potential of his new team side.
The Roma manager has already referred to the Dybala-Malen partnership as a “world-class duo,” highlighting how quickly the two have developed an incredible bond.
However, based on a single game performance, they cannot be compared to Batistuta or Totti historically. But if Dybala continues to provide the creativity and Malen continues to convert it at this rate, Roma may have discovered a partnership capable of writing its own chapter in the club’s history.
