ROME (AP) — Roma’s attempt at returning to the Champions League took a hit with the announcement on Thursday that Paulo Dybala will undergo left thigh surgery — ruling the Argentina playmaker out for the rest of the season.
Dybala was injured during a 1-0 win over Cagliari on Sunday.
“Paulo Dybala will undergo surgery in the coming days following an injury to his left semitendinosus tendon,” Roma said. “The player and the club have mutually agreed that this is the best course of action for an optimal recovery.”
Roma has surged up to seventh place with a 13-match unbeaten run under Claudio Ranieri in Serie A and has won six straight in the Italian league. The Giallorossi are four points behind fourth-placed Bologna and the final Champions League spot.
Roma has not played in the Champions League since 2018-19.
Roma was eliminated from the Europa League by Athletic Bilbao last week.
The often-injured Dybala has six goals in 24 appearances this season. He has not reached 30 appearances in a Serie A season since 2019-20, when he played in 33 games for Juventus.
Dybala was left off of Argentina’s squad for World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Brazil because of his injury.
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Roma's Paulo Dybala lies on the pitch during the Serie A soccer match between Roma and Cagliari at Rome's Olympic stadium, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (Fabrizio Corradetti/LaPresse via AP)
Roma's Paulo Dybala leaves the pitch during the Serie A soccer match between Roma and Cagliari at Rome's Olympic stadium, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (Fabrizio Corradetti/LaPresse via AP)
Roma's Paulo Dybala lies on the pitch during the Serie A soccer match between Roma and Cagliari at Rome's Olympic stadium, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (Fabrizio Corradetti/LaPresse via AP)
Roma's Paulo Dybala during the Serie A soccer match between Roma and Cagliari at Rome's Olympic stadium, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (Fabrizio Corradetti/LaPresse via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon’s intelligence and law enforcement arms are investigating what it says are leaks of national security information. Defense Department personnel could face polygraphs in the latest such inquiry by the Trump administration.
A memo late Friday from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s chief of staff referred to “recent unauthorized disclosures” of such information, but provided no details about alleged leaks. Earlier in the day, President Donald Trump rejected reports that adviser Elon Musk would be briefed on how the United States would fight a hypothetical war with China.
“If this effort results in information identifying a party responsible for an unauthorized disclosure," then such information “will be referred to the appropriate criminal entity for criminal prosecution,” according to the memo.
At the Homeland Security Department, Secretary Kristi Noem pledged this month to step up lie detector tests on employees in an effort to identify those who may be leaking information about operations to the media.
The Justice Department on Friday announced an investigation into “the selective leak of inaccurate, but nevertheless classified, information" from intelligence agencies about Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang whose members in the United States are being targeted for removal by the Republican administration.
Leaks occur in every administration — and government officials can be the source — as a trial balloon to test how a potential policy decision will be received.
While polygraph exams are typically not admissible in court proceedings, they are frequently used by federal law enforcement agencies and for national security clearances. In 1998, the Supreme Court ruled they were also inadmissible in military justice proceedings.
They are inadmissible because they are unreliable and often result in false positives, said George Maschke, a former Army interrogator and reserve intelligence officer who went on to found AntiPolygraph.org. Mashke failed a polygraph himself when applying to the FBI.
But they have been intermittently used since the 1990s to intimidate and scare sources from talking to reporters, Maschke said. A 1999 Pentagon report said it was expanding the program to use polygraphs on defense personnel “if classified information they had access to has been leaked."
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth does a television interview outside the White House, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
