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Extended Clip - Bologna Qualify For Champions League: How Will They Do? (Ep. 417)
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After a historic achievement clinching Champions League football for the first time in decades, Nima Tavallaey and Carlo Garganese discuss how well Bologna will do in Europe's elite club competition next season given it is likely they would have to do so without coach Thiago Motta as well as Joshua Zirkzee and Riccardo Calafiori who all are destined to leave.
This is an extended clip from this weeks free Monday episode of The Italian Football Podcast which is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google podcasts.
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Transcript
Bologna's Champions League Qualification
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast. We'll see if the new coach is going to be Tiago Motta, Nima. And I mean, he has now confirmed Champions League football for Bologna after they win at Napoli. And then the Atalanta result coupled with that means that Bologna are playing in the Champions League. And first of all, we just have to say congratulations to Bologna and to Tiago Motta. What an incredible achievement from Bologna.
00:00:31
Speaker
People forget that actually they've won Serie A. I think they're one of the, in terms of the list of champions in Serie A, they're actually quite high up the list. It's been a long time, 60 years since they last won the Scudetto and they haven't been a big team like in modern times, but they are a big team in Italian football. So we shouldn't probably be wrong to describe them as like a provincial team or minnows. It's probably the wrong description, but in modern times, I mean,
Bologna's Historical and Fan Presence
00:01:00
Speaker
I think they're on the same level as Fiorentina. They're a big team historically, but if you look at who they are, they're just under the Inter Milan, Juve, Napoli, Roma, Lazio in terms of fan size and following.
00:01:16
Speaker
They're there with Fiorentina and those sides. But look, they've done absolutely fantastic. There's no doubt about that. It's a miracle, really. Let's call it what it is. It's a miracle from where they come from.
Coaching Tactics and Comparisons
00:01:30
Speaker
I think a lot of people need to understand that he's not conceded very much. He's only conceded 27 goals all season. So if you're expecting to see Pep Guardiola take over at Juve, you're going to be mightily disappointed.
00:01:43
Speaker
He is about risk minimization, but the difference is that in the attacking phase he's got much more to offer than Allegri.
00:01:54
Speaker
right now. There's no doubt about that. The difference is the motto, the Bologna of I think second in Serie A for possession, if I'm not mistaken, they were the last time I looked a few weeks ago. I might be wrong there, but I'm pretty sure that that's the case. And you know, so they keep the ball, they dominate the game, they dominate territory and they've got fantastic, you know, patterns of play to build their way. And that's one thing that winds me up the most about Allegri is they literally
00:02:19
Speaker
There's just no build up. If you give them the ball from the back, they cannot build their way up the pitch at all. It's just horrendous. We also have to acknowledge that for big chances missed in the Serie A, Juve are top.
00:02:34
Speaker
of that. They've missed 59 big chances followed closely by 57. So there is that aspect that both of these teams have created but missed.
Bologna's Performance Against Top Teams
00:02:45
Speaker
And that is also, you know, that's something we should, you know...
00:02:49
Speaker
the Lion Metrics we can look at. I read through, I did one a few weeks ago, which I can't remember when it was, about three weeks ago, where I went through a whole load of them. And that kind of told the story about how horrific Juventus is attacking it. But anyway, listen, we're talking about Bologna now. And what Motto has done is absolutely astonishing. And he hasn't played like a provincial coach either.
00:03:11
Speaker
hasn't played like a team that are batting above its weight. They've played like a big team. They wanted to take control of the game, they wanted to dominate the game and they played good football, they keep the ball and their record against the big teams this season is absolutely insane. They proved to be a big team. They've now Napoli, they won this game.
00:03:34
Speaker
deservedly won this game, winning a draw against Napoli. They drew against Juventus, they beat Roma and Lazio, both those two teams homing away. Atalanta as well, drew and lost against Milan. That loss was the first game of the season. They drew and lost against Inter, but they won't beat Inter in the Coppa Italia.
00:03:57
Speaker
You know, and so I mean, it's an incredible, incredible achievement. They shouldn't be. I mean, I said at the start of the season, I got laughed by pretty much laughed out by everyone. I said that Bologna could qualify for Europe this season. I'm not going to sit here and say I thought they'd qualify for Champions League. I didn't.
00:04:12
Speaker
But even to qualify for European competition was laughed off by the vast majority of people in Italian football fans. Because I remember, I said it, I called it on this show. I said, I think Bologna got a chance to qualify for Europe at the start of the season. That was my prediction. And that was seen as a wild call. That was seen as a hot take and mad. And most people were like, they're not going to qualify for Europe.
00:04:42
Speaker
And now here they are. They haven't
Future Challenges for Bologna
00:04:43
Speaker
just qualified for Europe. They've qualified for the Champions League, done it with two games to spare, and they've done it deservedly. And they're now in third place, and they're probably going to finish third as well. I mean, it's unbelievable what he's done. I mean, he's overachieved so massively, and the development of players as well this season. I mean, Xerxes is his masterpiece, but it's Cala Fiore. He maximizes and develops players, and that's something that, if he goes to Juventus, is going to be so important for their project as well.
00:05:12
Speaker
Absolutely. No doubt about that. And I think it's the right move to do that and for him to move away. Although I do feel a before Bologna because them going to the Champions League is going to be. Well, that's the question. I wonder how well can Bologna do in the Champions League next season?
00:05:30
Speaker
It's way too soon to say, but we need to know who the coach is going to be. We need to know if Calafiori and Zirkses stay. If all three of them leave,
00:05:43
Speaker
they'll struggle to make, you know, unless they find jewels, which Sartori can do, he is that good. But unless he does find little jewels and they can get the best out of the players they've got in the squad who they believe in, who've not done well, like Jesper Carlson, then
00:06:04
Speaker
Well, you know, they'll have to bank on that, but it's going to be difficult. But I think it's way too soon to see anything. But I can't pretend that I'm not worried for them because, listen, they're going to lose Motta. They're probably going to lose ZXC and Color Fury. I mean, they have no control over ZXC because of his, you know, well, there's the release clause for buying, which might not be reactivate or buying good and they could sell him on. Who knows?
00:06:32
Speaker
They're going to lose all the pillars of their team. They're going to lose Mota, their manager, who is the most important of all. He's masterminded this. Zixi, they're going to lose. They're going to lose color fury and without focus, he's done his ACL and he's out until 2025. We're talking about their three best players.
00:06:55
Speaker
and their manager. Even if you've got money to spend, and Sartori is a genius in the transfer market, and I'm sure he will do some good work, but we're talking Champions League here, we're talking about a team that already, let's be honest, there's no way this team is equipped to play twice a week, even with the current team.
Appreciating Bologna's Current Success
00:07:12
Speaker
Current squad they know there's no way they're equipped to play twice a week and then they're gonna have to replace all their best players and their coach and After that then build try and build up a squad that's deep enough for the Champions League I think it's gonna be very very hard for them for the next season very very hard Which is a shame, but listen, I don't sure what's not bad about that. Yeah about I think you know
00:07:36
Speaker
We should enjoy what they've done because it is amazing. We don't get beautiful stories like this and we should appreciate this beautiful story really and how amazing it is. Next season it's going to be hard. I'm really interested to see who takes over after Tiago Mota.
00:07:53
Speaker
I'm looking at Vincenzo Italiano, if now that Stefano Pioli to Napoli is picking up steam and we're looking at content going to either Milan or Juve, it's all kind of crystallizing De Rossi staying at Roma, Tudor is doing a great job at Lazio. It's all kind of crystallizing itself, isn't it? And I'm thinking when the dust settles,
00:08:16
Speaker
I think, and if Vincenzo Italiano is able to actually pull off something against Olympia, of course, which he should be able to do and win that trophy, that European trophy, given the profile that Bologna have, as I've been saying for a couple of months, I wouldn't, I mean, I wanted, I thought Italiano should have gone to Bologna three years ago when they appointed Mihailovic instead, because I think
00:08:41
Speaker
that's the right place for him to be at in terms of also how good he is with improving youngsters. That makes more sense to me. If Italiano at Bologna makes more sense to me than it does
00:08:55
Speaker
And also it's a good little peak in the Champions League because no one expects him to do anything in the Champions League with Bologna. But if you know, this is the thing, if you have a chance to play in the Champions League, usually when you're with one of the big ones, they expect you to go through, right? With Bologna, no one is expecting Bologna to go through. So it's kind of he's got everything to gain by playing in the Champions League. I think Italiano could be a good fit, because he's also good at kind of developing
00:09:24
Speaker
players for his style, even if they don't necessarily fit. So with Sartori working there, yeah, he can probably get in the kind of players that will work for his system.
Bologna's European Cup History
00:09:35
Speaker
But yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how Polanyan do. It's going to be a great story. It's their first time in the European Cup since 1964-65. They were knocked out in the preliminary round that year by Anderlecht. Do you know what the score was in that game, Nimmer?
00:09:54
Speaker
I can't remember. No, I've read about it, but no. OK, they lost that game. They lost that game. They lost that game on a coin toss. Oh, wasn't that the season when they won the Scudetto on a coin toss as well? Like the following season, it was something crazy like that. Because I remember needing something about winning the shot. I think they won it in a playoff against, was it against the inter? It might have even been. I think it was against Inter. Yeah, they won the 1994 Scudetto.
00:10:25
Speaker
Bologna did, qualified for the European Carport, you know, former Champions League. And they, I think, yeah. There was something with a cook.
00:10:36
Speaker
There was something about a coin toss. The coin toss, the most famous coin toss was, no, they beat into 2-0 in the playoff. A goal from, own goal from Faketi in the 75th minute and then Harold Nielsen, former Denmark player.
00:10:56
Speaker
scored the second goal and that got them into the European goal. The most famous coin was the Euro 1968 semi-final. Italy beat the Soviet Union on a double-sided coin.