‘Take us to Europe’: Bologna buzz as Thiago Motta leads Lazio’s comeback

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Maurizio Sarri called it an “ambush” by Serie A officials, with his Lazio team due to play Bologna early at 12.30pm on Sunday after a midweek Champions League date with Bayern Munich. “We would like to thank the league for doing this again,” was his sarcastic comment. “Just like they did after our Coppa Italia derby against Roma.”

Maybe he had a point. Then think of what Bologna had to endure. On Wednesday evening they played their own match against Fiorentina, a direct rival in the battle for European qualification. Now they had to leave for a short rest to Lazio: conquerors of Bayern Munich.

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Yet Thiago Motta had a different opinion. “A fantastic day, a fantastic stadium, let’s hope it will be a good match,” said the Bologna manager during his pre-game interview with Sky. “We are a team that always plays its own game, imposes our own football. We’re going to try that again.”

The contrasting mannerisms of these managers provided an entertaining subplot. Rare are the weeks in which Sarri finds nothing to grumble about, even if he combines his cynicism with self-mockery. Invited to “Sarrismo” Last season – a word usually translated into English as ‘Sarriball’, but which literally means ‘Sarri-ism’ – he replied: “My wife might say, ‘A moody man and a bit of a jerk. ‘”

Motta, 24 years his junior, has a different character: the shiny new thing in Italian football, enjoying his breakthrough season as a coach. Maybe this world also looks different if you’ve already been there and won everything as a player: the Champions League (twice), La Liga (twice), Serie A, Ligue 1 (five times) – just to name a few. to name a few of the highlights.

Their paths collided at a crucial moment. Lazio’s victory over Bayern was historic, their first Champions League knockout win in 24 years, but their prospects of returning to the competition next season have been hampered by a slow start to this season. They were joint seventh in the table and five points behind Bologna and needed a positive result.

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Motta’s team, meanwhile, tried to keep the momentum going after beating Fiorentina 2-0 on Wednesday night. Unlike Lazio, who finished second last May, Bologna did not start this season with any expectations of challenging for the top positions. Yet they found themselves in joint fourth place this weekend, level with Atalanta.

Despite all of Sarri’s complaints about the early kick-off, his team started well. Ciro Immobile has looked like a man without a burden since scoring his 200th Serie A goal against Cagliari earlier this month and thought he had achieved his fourth goal in as many games when he nutmegged Lukasz Skorupski in the 13th minute before raising the flag of the linesman. Instead, he provided the assist on Gustav Isaksen’s opener moments later.

The 22-year-old Danish winger has taken time to find his feet since arriving from Midtjylland last summer, but his performances have improved over the past three months and it was he who earned the penalty that sealed Immobile’s victory over Bayern. His direct running style and willingness to take on his man from the right wing are much needed for a team missing the injured Mattia Zaccagni on the other flank.

Lazio have struggled to establish a new attacking identity in the wake of Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s move to Al Hilal. They could never really hope to replace a player who combines the 6ft tall frame of a goalkeeper with the agility of a number 10 and the work rate of a box-to-box midfielder, but the hope was that the summer signings Isaksen, Daichi Kamada and Taty Castellanos might help the team grow in a different direction.

When Lazio have flourished, as they did against Bayern, it has often been a testament to Sarri’s meticulously crafted zonal marking schemes that keep opponents far from goal. They have kept 11 clean sheets in all competitions, most of them tied with Lille, among teams from Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues.

They had the chance to control the match against Bologna. In the 30th minute, Isaksen cut in from the right, bounced off a defender and dodged for a second before firing a shot between two more. Skorupski denied him a contender for the save of the season, forcing the ball onto the post with the tips of the only two fingers he could reach.

Bologna then got the equalizer before half time. Luis Alberto’s back pass to Ivan Provedel was ill-advised, but the goalkeeper’s attempt to play the next ball short with four Bologna players in front of him in the penalty area was madness. Giovanni Fabbian intercepted and Oussama El Azzouzi finished.

The second half was a completely different story, with Bologna taking control of the pitch. Sarri’s substitutions of Immobile and Isaksen did not help, their replacements Castellanos and Pedro had no influence on the match, but it was striking how the home team faded. Perhaps part of this was the fatigue of having to play long stretches out of possession for the second time in four days.

But it also spoke to the nature of Motta’s Bologna: a team that always plays from the back when it has the ball and gets into the opponents’ faces when it doesn’t. With the third-youngest starting XIs in all of Serie A, part of their success is the ability to wear down opponents.

Torino 2-0 Lecce, Internazionale 4-0 Salernitana, Atalanta 3-0 Sassuolo, Verona 2-2 Juventus, Napoli 1-1 Genoa, Lazio 1-2 Bologna, Empoli 1-1 Fiorentina, Udinese 1-1 Cagliari, Frosinone 0 -3 Roma, Monza 4-2 Milan

This isn’t a team full of superstars. Lewis Ferguson has been excellent all season and right winger Riccardo Orsolini is also playing the best football of his career. Yet the former has only started twice for the Scottish national team, while the latter, at the age of 27, has made all five of his appearances for Italy from the bench.

Perhaps the only standout talent is 22-year-old Dutch forward Joshua Zirkzee, a natural connector whose free interpretation of the No. 9 role allows him to connect with teammates all over the pitch, creating space for the midfield . runners to attack. He helped create and finish the goal that decided the match, playing a pass to left back Victor Kristiansen on the overlap before meeting the return ball with a half-volley into the bottom corner.

A 2-1 win allowed Bologna to keep pace with Atalanta, who defeated Sassuolo 3-0 on Saturday evening. The club from Bergamo still has a match to go, but it is away to Inter. While the Nerazzurri have withdrawn from the pack in first place, the race for the Champions League places promises to be fierce.

Juventus and Milan seem to take at least two places, but behind them the field is wide open. Roma’s renewed form under Daniele De Rossi has taken them above Fiorentina, Lazio and Napoli to sixth place. But even the latter club, who are nine points behind Bologna with a game in hand, may not be out of the picture – especially with talk of a second managerial change this season.

It is possible that Serie A will send five teams to the Champions League next season instead of the usual four. Lazio’s victory over Bayern strengthened Italy’s first place in the coefficient rankings. Ultimately, it could be the team that beat them this weekend – Bologna – who will benefit.

Motta is not ready to think about that yet and emphasizes that there is still a long way to go. The 500 fans who waited with flags and fireworks for the team’s return to Bologna are several steps ahead of him. “Take us to Europe,” they sang.