‘Take us to Europe’: Thiago Motta inspires victory over Lazio, Bologna are in good form | Serie A

MManager Aurizio Sarri called it an “ambush” by Serie A officials, with Lazio set to face Bologna in a 12.30pm kick-off on Sunday after a midweek Champions League commitment with Bayern Munich I made plans. He quipped, “I want to thank the league for doing it again.” “Just like they did after the Coppa Italia derby against Roma.”

Perhaps he has a point. Think again what Bologna had to put up with. They had a big game of their own on Wednesday night when they hosted Fiorentina, their direct rivals in the race for European qualification. Now they had to leave for a short rest to Lazio, the conquerors of Bayern Munich.

However, Thiago Motta took a different view. “It’s a great day, a great stadium. I hope it’s a good game,” the Bologna manager said in a pre-match interview with Sky. “We are a team that always plays our game and imposes our own football. We will try it again.”

The contrasting attitudes of these managers were an interesting subplot. Weeks are rare when Sarri doesn’t find anything to complain about, but he does combine irony with self-deprecating humour. You are invited to define “.”SalismoLast season, he responded, although the word is usually translated into English as “Sarriball”, but literally just means “Sarriism”: “My wife might say, ‘He’s moody and a little bit dumb.'”

Motta, who is 24 years younger, has a different personality. He is a bright new star in Italian football and is enjoying a breakthrough season as a coach. Perhaps this world will also look different when you are already there and won all the victories as a player: Champions League (twice), La Liga (twice), just to name a few , Serie A, Ligue 1 (5 times), etc. Highlights.

Their paths collided at a pivotal moment. Lazio’s victory over Bayern was historic, marking their first Champions League knockout victory in 24 years, but a late start to the season has complicated their prospects for a return to competition next season. They needed a positive result as they sit tied for seventh place, five points behind Bologna.

Meanwhile, Motta’s side were looking to maintain their momentum after defeating Fiorentina 2-0 on Wednesday night. Unlike Lazio, who finished runners-up last May, Bologna did not start this season expecting to fight for the top spot. However, going into this weekend they are tied for fourth place on points with Atalanta.

Coach Sarri lamented the early kick-off, but his team started brightly. Ciro Immobile looked unburdened since scoring his 200th Serie A goal against Cagliari earlier this month, but he kicked Łukasz Skorupski in the 13th minute and noticed the flag raised by the linesman. Until then, I thought I had scored my fourth goal in the game. Instead, he provided the assist for Gustav Isaksen’s opening goal shortly after.

The 22-year-old Danish winger has taken some time to find his footing since joining from Midtjylland in the summer, but his performances have improved over the last three months and Immobile sealed the win against Bayern. He also won the penalty. His direct running and willingness to take on the player on the right flank is much needed by a team that is without Mattia Zaccagni on the opposite flank due to injury.

Lazio have struggled to establish a new attacking identity following Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s move to Al Hilal. They could never hope to replace a player who combines the 6ft 4in physique of a target man with the agility of a number 10 and the work rate of a box-to-box midfielder, but their hopes were high with summer arrival Isaksen. , Daichi Kamata, and Tati Castellanos could help the team grow in a different direction.

When Lazio were doing well, such as against Bayern, Sarri’s carefully crafted zonal marking schemes were often proven to keep opponents away from goal. They have kept 11 home clean sheets in all competitions, joint-most with Lille among teams in Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues.

They had a chance to end the game against Bologna. In the 30th minute, Isaksen cut in from the right, bounced off one defender, avoided it for a second, and then fired a shot between the two. Skorupski pushed the ball into the post with just two fingertips, denying him a candidate for the save this season.

Bologna were then awarded an equalizing goal before half-time. Luis Alberto’s backpass to Ivan Provedel was thoughtless, but it was madness for the goalkeeper to try to play the next ball short with four Bologna players in front of him in the box. Giovanni Fabian intercepted and Osama El Azuj finished.

The second half was a completely different story, with Bologna in control of the pitch. Sarri’s substitutions of Immobile and Isaksen did not help, and their substitutes Castellanos and Pedro also failed to influence the game, but the home side’s decline was impressive. Perhaps this was due in part to fatigue from having to play for so long without possession, which was his second time in four days.

But it also spoke volumes about the nature of Bologna under Motta. They are a team that always plays from the back when they have the ball, and when they don’t they get in the opponent’s face. On average, they have the third-youngest starting XI in all of Serie A, and part of their success lies in their ability to wear down opponents.

This is not a team full of superstars. Lewis Ferguson has been in great form all season, while right-winger Riccardo Orsolini is also playing some of the best football of his career. However, the former has only started two games for the Scottish national team, while the latter, 27, has appeared on the bench in all five of his appearances for Italy.

One standout talent may be 22-year-old Dutch forward Joshua Zirkzee. A natural linker, he can freely interpret the role of a number 9, linking up with his teammates all over the pitch and creating attacking space for midfield runners. . He overlapping a pass to left-back Viktor Christiansen, and the return half-volley into the bottom corner, contributing to the creation and scoring of the game-deciding goal.

The 2-1 win enabled Bologna to keep pace with Atalanta, who beat Sassuolo 3-0 on Saturday night. The Bergamo club has a game coming up, but it’s away to Internazionale.where Nerazzurri Although they have pulled away from the top group, the competition for a spot in the Champions League is expected to be fierce.

It seems certain that Juventus and Milan will take second place, but there is a big hole behind them. Roma, reborn under manager Daniele De Rossi, have moved into sixth place, ahead of Fiorentina, Lazio and Napoli. But even last place, nine points behind Bologna with a game in hand, may not be out of the picture yet – especially given talk of a second managerial change this season looms.

Serie A could send five teams to next season’s Champions League instead of the usual four. Lazio’s victory over Bayern strengthened Italy’s lead in the coefficient rankings. The ultimate beneficiary may be Bologna, the team that beat them this weekend.

Motta is not yet ready to think about it, insisting that “we still have a long way to go.” The 500 fans waiting with flags and fireworks to welcome the team back to Bologna are several steps ahead of him. “Take us to Europe,” they sang.