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BOLOGNA, ITALY – MARCH 12: Vincenzo Italiano, Head Coach of Bologna, looks on prior to the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 Round of 16 First Leg match between Bologna FC 1909 and AS Roma at Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on March 12, 2026 in Bologna, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)
Vincenzo Italiano explains his tactical experiment against Roma and admits Bologna fans ‘were right to jeer, but I never implied that we had nothing to play for.’
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The Rossoblu had eliminated Roma from the Europa League last month, drawing 1-1 at home and 3-3 at the Stadio Olimpico, eventually emerging victorious 4-3 in extra time.
However, the Giallorossi got the better of their rivals this time thanks to first half goals by Donyell Malen and Neil El Aynaoui, while Riccardo Orsolini’s strike thumped the underside of the crossbar.
Italiano insists Bologna still fighting
“This team has not given up, we are here trying to sort out all the situations in a complicated match, but when you concede at the start and end of the half, those are the crucial moments where you cannot make a mistake,” Italiano told DAZN Italia.
“Goals in those moments really change the game. Then we hit the woodwork yet again too, I think we had a decent second half, but have conceded too many goals this season due to distractions and superficiality.
“Roma were not dominating us by any means, but they will make you pay for those errors. We had a negative spell in Serie A, then had four or five victories in a row. We never really had long periods of consistent results, and that was the difference from last season, losing so many home matches.
“Unfortunately, that has been the trend this term. We were unable to give our home fans this victory, they were quite right to jeer us, so we’ve got to roll our sleeves up against Cagliari and try to turn the tide.”
There was some controversy around the comments made by Italiano after the defeat to Juventus, where it was assumed he said the season was already over.
“That was only part of what I said, you need to have the whole thing,” replied the coach. “What I actually said was that we were out of the running for the Europa League and Champions League places, but we can lock down eighth place, that is what the club asked us for, and we are not giving up.
“You can win or lose, but we do have objectives and we won’t give in. I never like to lose, so evidently I was misunderstood, but I never implied that we had nothing to play for.”
Italiano had pulled a surprise by starting Bologna with a 3-4-3 formation, something he had experimented with during matches, but not from the opening whistle.
Despite the struggle to make much impact in this game, he did not change that formation.
“We tried something a bit different to ensure Roma could not take control of the match, and I saw some positives. Roma often force you to get behind the line with their midfielders, but I feel we did well off the ball, we just allowed chances on the break when we misplaced passes. Roma were perhaps much more focused than they were in the other games against us, we did better in the second half, but we did the damage especially with that goal before half-time.
“Now in the last four games, we’ll see if we can reduce the malcontent that we felt today in the stadium.”
Bologna had been unbeaten at home to Roma since 2020, but they were jeered off the field by their fans at the Stadio Dall’Ara this evening.
Even seventh place looks very unlikely now, and even that would only guarantee Conference League qualification if Lazio don’t win the Coppa Italia Final.
