Serie A | Bologna 3-3 Inter: Scudetto winners end with thrilling fight back

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Skip to contentBOLOGNA, ITALY – MAY 23: Federico Dimarco of FC Internazionale scores the opening goal during the Serie A match between Bologna FC 1909 and FC Internazionale at Renato Dall’Ara Stadium on May 23, 2026 in Bologna, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

Inter came back from 3-1 down to hold Bologna in a 3-3 thriller, including a fantastic Federico Dimarco free kick, bizarre Piotr Zielinski own goal and Andy Diouf scorcher.

The Nerazzurri celebrated their Scudetto and Coppa Italia Double, so released Hakan Calhanoglu, Marcus Thuram, Manuel Akanji and Denzel Dumfries early, with Davide Frattesi injured. The hosts closed their campaign without Riccardo Orsolini, Nicolò Cambiaghi, Martin Vitik and Nicolò Casale, but Lorenzo De Silvestri started on his 38th birthday ahead of probable retirement.

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See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

Jonathan Rowe had an early effort blocked and was denied by a splendid Yann Bisseck sliding tackle, while Santiago Castro’s first touch let him down after Josep Martinez got into a tangle playing out from the back.

Inter took the lead with their first real scoring opportunity, as Dimarco celebrated his Serie A MVP status with a sensational free kick curled into the near top corner. With seven goals and 17 assists, no defender contributed to more goals in the last 20 years of the top five European Leagues. His celebration also hinted the Dimarco family is growing.

The lead did not last long, as Federico Bernardeschi flicked on a throw-in with his heel to send Castro into the box, then was ready to prod home the rebound from seven yards when Stefan de Vrij cut him off.

Remo Freuler ballooned over from eight yards after an awkward bounce, while Rowe drilled just wide, then Carlos Augusto made the decisive block from six yards as Castro met the Freuler assist.

Bologna turned it around before half-time, as Tommaso Pobega’s volley from the edge of the area took a double deflection off Petar Sucic and Lautaro Martinez to totally wrongfoot the Inter goalkeeper.

If there were doubts on who to credit with that goal, the Bologna third was definitely an Inter own goal. Juan Miranda pulled back from the left by-line for Bernardeschi, but Piotr Zielinski got there first and accidentally turned into his own net from close range.

Bernardeschi fired straight at the Inter goalkeeper, while Lukasz Skorupski’s leg turned a Carlos Augusto effort onto the side-netting from close range.

Andy Diouf dribbled between two down the right and his finish thumped the base of the near post, allowing Francesco Pio Esposito the easiest of tap-ins on the rebound.

It was nearly 4-2 moments later, as Castro stood up a cross and the acrobatic Rowe volley didn’t connect from six yards, while Diouf and Lewis Ferguson drilled wide.

Diouf was fired up and ran onto the perfectly-weighted pass from 20-year-old Luka Topalovic, taking one touch before smashing the right-foot finish into the roof of the net from a tricky angle.

This goal made for an interesting statistic, as it means each of the last three times Inter won the Serie A title, they did it by scoring 89 goals.

Bologna 3-3 Inter

Dimarco 22 (I), Bernardeschi 25 (B), Pobega 42 (B), Zielinski og 48 (B), Pio Esposito 64 (I), Diouf 87 (I)

23-05-2026 17:00

MatchDay 38

Renato Dall’Ara StadiumBGNINT3 – 3

Player statistic

BGN

INT

Starting lineups

1

Lukasz Skorupski
Goalkeeper

5

Eivind Helland
Defender

81′

26

Jhon Lucumí
Defender

33

Juan Miranda
Defender

29

Lorenzo De Silvestri
Defender

67′

11

Jonathan Rowe
Midfielder

19

Lewis Ferguson
Midfielder

8

Remo Freuler
Midfielder

67′

4

Tommaso Pobega
Midfielder

67′

10

Federico Bernardeschi
Attacker

88′

9

Santiago Castro
Attacker

13

Josep Martínez
Goalkeeper

32

Federico Dimarco
Defender

54′

8

Petar Sucic
Defender

74′

6

Stefan de Vrij
Defender

81′

31

Yann Bisseck
Defender

30

Carlos Augusto
Midfielder

23

Nicolò Barella
Midfielder

54′

7

Piotr Zielinski
Midfielder

17

Andy Diouf
Attacker

94

Pio Esposito
Attacker

10

Lautaro Martínez
Attacker

54′

Substitutes

22

Charalampos Lykogiannis
Defender

23

Simon Sohm
Midfielder

13

Federico Ravaglia
Goalkeeper

17

João Mário
Defender

30

Benja Domínguez
Attacker

25

Massimo Pessina
Goalkeeper

20

Nadir Zortea
Defender

67′

6

Nikola Moro
Midfielder

67′

21

Jens Odgaard
Attacker

67′

14

Torbjørn Heggem
Defender

81′

24

Thijs Dallinga
Attacker

88′

15

Francesco Acerbi
Defender

36

Matteo Darmian
Defender

95

Alessandro Bastoni
Defender

1

Yann Sommer
Goalkeeper

12

Raffaele Di Gennaro
Goalkeeper

57

Iwo Kaczmarski
Midfielder

48

Mattia Mosconi
Attacker

22

Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Midfielder

54′

14

Ange-Yoan Bonny
Defender

54′

11

Luis Henrique
Attacker

54′

43

Matteo Cocchi
Defender

74′

58

Luka Topalović
Midfielder

81′

BySusy Campanale

Original Article