Donyell Malen has started the 2026-27 Serie A season in extraordinary fashion: a hat-trick in Roma's 4-0 win over Fiorentina in the opening week and a brace in the away win over Lecce. Five goals in two games. A pace that, in the era of three points for a win, from the 1994-95 season onwards, had never been surpassed and that only a great legend of the past had managed to equal: Gabriel Omar Batistuta in the Fiorentina shirt.
Malen, the new Batistuta almost 30 years later
The most famous record belongs to the “Lion King”, Gabriel Batistuta: in the 1997-98 season, with the Fiorentina jersey, the Argentine scored 3 goals against Udinese and 2 against Bari. Exactly five goals in the first two weeks, the same figure that Malen has achieved today. Since then, no one in the history of the championship with the three-point system has managed to do better. The Dutch striker of Roma has thus equaled a record that has stood for almost three decades, registering one of the most productive starts in the recent history of Serie A.
19 - Donyell #Malen has scored 19 goals in his first 20 appearances in #SerieA : in tournament history, only Gunnar Nordahl (20 goals, in 1949) and José Altafini (20, between 1958 and 1959) have done better in the same number of matches. Unstoppable. #LecceRoma pic.twitter.com/4sUlqmJ1hE
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) August 31, 2026
Who came closest: Hubner and the others with four goals each
Before Malen and Batistuta, the highest figure in the modern era for goals in the first 180 minutes of a league season was four. Dario Hubner with Brescia, in the same season as Batistuta's record, stopped at four goals: one on his debut against Inter at San Siro and a hat-trick in a 3-3 home draw against Sampdoria. Other top-flight strikers have also reached the same figure of four goals in the first two games: Ciro Immobile with Lazio in the 2021-22 season, Paulo Dybala and Mauro Icardi, both in the 2017-18 season, as well as Andrea Belotti, David Trezeguet, Éder and several others. None of them, however, reached the five-goal mark.
Malen and the impact in Serie A: 19 goals in his first 20 appearances
Malen's overall statistics since his debut in the Italian top flight are equally impressive. With five goals in these first two weeks, the Dutchman has reached 19 goals in his first 20 appearances in Serie A. In the history of the championship, only two legends have done better in the same number of matches. They are Gunnar Nordahl, with 20 goals in 1949 with Milan, and José Altafini, with another 20 goals between 1958 and 1959, also with the Rossoneri. These are figures of a truly elite level in the history of the championship, which place Malen in a rare dimension even compared to the great scorers of the past.
Gasperini's intuition and the qualities of the Dutch striker
Behind these figures lies a clear and deliberate choice by Gian Piero Gasperini, who insisted with conviction on bringing Malen to Roma, initially on loan and then permanently, recognizing in him the ideal characteristics for his football: the right time to enter the area, the calmness in front of goal, the ability to attack spaces and finish with both feet. The Dutchman responded with an immediate impact, building an almost automatic harmony with Paulo Dybala and showing that he can raise the level of the yellow attack.
Malen was acquired by Roma in January 2026.
The consistency in scoring, the hunger and the naturalness with which he finds his way to the net explain why Malen is today one of the strengths of Gasperini's project and one of the most prominent protagonists of the start of this championship. Malen is not limited to scoring goals: he does so with a frequency and quality that place him among the most memorable Serie A starters in recent years. To equal Batistuta almost 30 years later, to come close to the figures of Nordahl and Altafini and to do so with Gasperini's Roma is the sign of a footballer at the peak of his productive maturity.
