“Go on! Go on!” A performance was demanded outside the Beatles Museum in Liverpool. Gianni Morandi, who turns 80 this winter, was milling around outside, a Bologna scarf around his neck. An icon of Italian music, he busked a performance of his old song ’There was once a guy who loved The Beatles and The Rolling Stones’. Morandi seemed reluctant at first. It was an anti-war song, after all, about an American who got to tour the world as a soldier but lost his life in Vietnam. Still, Morandi gave the crowd of Bologna fans what they wanted.
On the flight over, he remarked: “What an adventure!”. Morandi is old enough to remember the last time Bologna played in the European Cup. He was 20 in 1964, the year of the club’s seventh and most recent league title. Bologna were knocked out in the first round by Anderlecht at that time. They had not played in Europe at all since the Intertoto Cup in 2000.
Bologna’s sporting director Marco Di Vaio was not a member of that team at the turn of the century. Beppe Signori skippered them and wore the No 10 shirt left by Roberto Baggio. But as Di Vaio stood adjacent to the away end at Anfield, where the travelling ultras proudly stretched out a banner showing the city’s name, he shared an anecdote about the one time he played here. It was in a pre-season friendly with Bologna’s rivals Parma. They lost 5-0, with Fabio Cannavaro and Lilian Thuram on the pitch. But that result did not prey on him too much.
Bologna set out last year to qualify for the Conference League. That they were here was beyond their wildest expectations. Morandi won the San Remo music festival in 1987 with a song called “Si puo dare di piu”. You can give more. But how much more could Bologna give after finishing fifth in Serie A last season? They lost their coach Thiago Motta to Juventus. They were powerless to stop striker Joshua Zirkzee leaving when Manchester United paid his buyout clause. Arsenal then came for Riccardo Calafiori. But Bologna did not look back.
Owner Joey Saputo instead paced the sideline before kick-off, bright eyed. This night was a decade in the making. Next week will mark 10 years since the Canadian-Italian billionaire bought the club. “It’s the completion of a journey,” his chief executive Claudio Fenucci told Sky Italia before kick-off. “A good one made up of some pain and some joy.”
Cesare Cremonini was among the VIPs who flew in with Bologna, and he joined the board members on the pitch during the warm-ups. Another pop star, he used to go in the Bulgarelli end with the ultras at the Renato Dall’Ara. “I learned to lose and then manage my voice in the Curva,” he said. “During the game I’m a lot less poetic.”
The team Vincenzo Italiano named for Bologna’s most prestigious game in 60 years was as new to this competition as Saputo, Morandi and Cremonini. Only centre-back Jhon Lucumi and midfielder Remo Freuler had stood and listened to the Champions League anthem on more than five occasions and that was for Genk and Atalanta respectively. On the eve of the game, Italiano asked three things of them. He told his players to not let themselves be intimidated by the atmosphere, try to match Liverpool and make sure they left with their heads held high. Bologna did all of that.
Thijs Dallinga thought he had given them an early lead only for the offside flag to go up. The €15m (£12.5m, $16.5m) signing from Toulouse scored home and away against Liverpool in the Europa League last season and while he could have timed his run better, his disallowed finish was still impressive. Unfortunately, and as is the way with football, Bologna then conceded.
That ball from Salah 😮💨
Alexis Mac Allister gives Liverpool an early lead at Anfield 💪
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— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 2, 2024
More chances followed and Liverpool manager Arne Slot lamented his side’s decision-making in the final third. But Bologna emerged with credit. They left Lucumi and the two full-backs one-versus-one against Liverpool’s forward players in order to go man-to-man all over the pitch. For instance, Lucumi’s centre-back partner Sam Beukema pushed up to mark Dominik Szoboszlai and Freuler tried to harry Ryan Gravenberch. The press forced errors and Dan Ndoye hit the bar then the outside of the post. Bologna went in at the interval looking the more likely to get the next goal.
Goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski stood out in the second half for the quickness he showed off his line and his reaction saves. The Pole saved a penalty in the 0-0 draw against Shakhtar Donetsk a fortnight ago. However, there was nothing he could do to stop Mohamed Salah’s curling clincher. “From that position, he has a 100 per cent completion rate,” Italiano remarked, wishing his team had done more to close the angle. The ultras then tried to insult their hosts. “The English can go f*** themselves,” they sang in Italian. If the Scousers had understood the chant, they would not have been angry. They probably would have agreed.
There’s no stopping that 👑
Mo Salah with an incredible left-footed strike into the top corner 🎯
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— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 2, 2024
Ultimately Bologna could not win here as Genoa, Inter and Atalanta have done in the past. But it mattered little to Italiano. “I’m proud of the performance,” he said. “I don’t think Liverpool expected Bologna to be so brave.” There was no ‘what might have been?’ either, even though Motta, their old coach, pulled off an epic comeback from 2-1 down with 10 men to lead Juventus to a 3-2 win in Leipzig. On the contrary, Bologna felt like they were becoming more of an Italiano team in the positive sense.
“It was a legendary night,” Riccardo Orsolini said. Another awaits them at Aston Villa after the international break.
(Top photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
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