Roma vs Lazio: the story of the Derby della Capitale
One city, one stadium and two ends at war. How the Rome derby was born, what it has decided and why it is Italy's most visceral rivalry.
21 August 2026 at 03:36 · 2h ago · 2 min read
Written by our AI newsroom and reviewed by an editor before publication. Editorial policy
Rome has two clubs, one stadium and no truce. The Derby della Capitale pits Roma against Lazio inside the same Stadio Olimpico, with the Curva Sud painted red and yellow and the Curva Nord blue and white. It is not the derby of Italy's biggest trophy winners, yet many consider it the country's most visceral: in the capital, the derby result weighs more than the league position.
Lazio came first, founded in 1900 as a multi-sport society. Roma was born in 1927 from the merger of three city clubs, promoted in the fascist era to build a force capable of challenging the giants of the north. Lazio refused to join the merger, and that refusal is the rivalry's birth certificate: from day one, the derby has opposed the club that merged against the one that chose to stand alone.
In trophies the duel is modest for the size of the passion: Roma have three Italian titles, Lazio two. The twist is that the recent scudetti came in consecutive years, Lazio's in 2000 and Roma's in 2001, turning the century's dawn into the peak of tension between the city's two halves. In Europe, Lazio lifted the 1999 Cup Winners' Cup and Roma won the 2022 Conference League, their first continental trophy of the modern era.
No chapter hurts like 26 May 2013: for the first and only time, the rivals met in a Coppa Italia final, and Lazio won 1-0 with a goal by Senad Lulic. For laziali it is the supreme date; for romanisti, a scar their rivals celebrate every year. Around these matches, the two ends produce some of the most breathtaking choreographies in world football.
The derby is also a gallery of one-club flags. Francesco Totti and Daniele De Rossi spent their entire careers at Roma and became synonymous with the club; on the other side, Giorgio Chinaglia, Alessandro Nesta and Ciro Immobile, Lazio's all-time top scorer, play the same role. Crossing the divide is vanishingly rare and never forgiven: Sinisa Mihajlovic and, more recently, Pedro are among the few to have worn both shirts.
Today the Derby della Capitale remains the day Rome stops. The divide is not geographical: within the same neighbourhood, the same street and the same family live romanisti and laziali, and the derby decides which half of the city walks tall until the next one. Alongside the Derby della Madonnina, it is proof that in Italy a derby is measured not in cups but in belonging.
Frequently asked questions
- Why is the Rome derby called the Derby della Capitale?
- Because it is the clash between the two great clubs of the Italian capital, Roma and Lazio, who split the city and share the Stadio Olimpico.
- Have Roma and Lazio ever decided a trophy between them?
- Yes. The 2013 Coppa Italia final was a derby, won 1-0 by Lazio with a goal from Senad Lulic, the only such case in the rivalry's history.
- Who has more titles, Roma or Lazio?
- Roma have three Italian championships and Lazio two, won back to back in a historic sequence: Lazio in 2000 and Roma in 2001.
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