Bologna drew with Genoa on Sunday to lift themselves out of the relegation zone. It was an uninspiring affair, and a match entirely typical of this season’s vintage of Rossoblu.
That sentence has been the first sentence of this club focus for three different rewrites as I’ve swayed from disillusionment to bloody-mindedness to positivity to resignation. I think I’ve settled with stoicism.
On Sunday evening, Bologna sat a point ahead of Sassuolo and were dreaming of three points against Catania that would lift them beyond the Nerazzurri’s reach, would lift them to safety and keep them in Serie A. Yet this is an utterly abject Bologna side.
This is a team who have not won for seven games and, despite occasional rhetoric from within the dressing room, seldom seem to begin teams with that intent.
It makes them hard to watch, hard to enjoy and hard to love. Yet they will be backed by a full Stadio Renato dall’Ara over the weekend, a stadium filled with fans who do love them, who can’t believe what has become of their team and who desperately want them to succeed despite all the signs pointing against them.
Through the reigns of Stefano Pioli and Davide Ballardini, the Veltri have put a premium on not conceding goals – indeed, they’ve kept nine clean sheets – after an early season stinging at the hands of Roma suggested the porousness of the defence. That has, undoubtedly, come at the cost of scoring goals. The current drought, not the first, now stands at five hours.
The strikers have failed to score for even longer. Yet Sassuolo, the team who had been most directly in comparison with Bologna have thrilled Serie A throughout this season, illuminating games with the likes of Domenico Berardi and Simone Zaza. The Rossoblu’s illumination would barely fill a Christmas tree bulb. Eusebio Di Francesco’s side now face a home game against Genoa to secure their salvation.
The scramble to stay in Serie A is all-encompassing, yet the goal in and of itself seems almost counter-intuitive. In an almost perfect example of Sisyphism, Bologna are undergoing a torrid season in the hope that they survive to endure another torrid season next campaign.
So, with Sassuolo now clawing gratefully at the top of the sinkhole, Rossoblu eyes now are trained on Chievo, and their run-in looks like there might be a chance to take advantage of it. A trip to Cagliari at the weekend is followed by the visit of Inter, who may well be hunting a Europa League position. This while the Gialloblu are a solitary point in front of Bologna.
It is that time of season. The time of looking over one’s shoulders, the time of tables ‘as it stands’ and the time of games that if X win and Y draw, Z can end up in such and such a position. The equation is, for the Felsinei, simple. Beat Catania. Beat Catania and see. Beat Catania and give yourself a fighting chance.
There’s a few administrative aspects to the unmemorable affair at Genoa to cover. Rolando Bianchi was brought out of exile on the bench to be the man that struggled gamely with a scarcity of service, trying to find gold in a pan of dirt. He performed with vim, verve and no little rolling around on the floor, as he will, and may well be asked to reprise that role next weekend.
Daniele Paponi looked bright when he came on, but neither he nor Bianchi looked particularly like completing (arguably) the most important part of their job and scoring. That said, the Rossoblu did hit the woodwork, and their 14 shots to 6 dominance over Genoa only serves to illustrate that they shaded the game.
Bologna did, probably, have the better of the game – they looked more like they wanted to win it. Wanted it more, maybe, but – as we’ve seen on countless occasions – were utterly unable to enact the parts of football that would allow them to do so. Through the heady days of Jonathan Cristaldo, through the dark days of Moscardelli, and even the mystifying reappearance of Robert Acquafresca, it was ever thus.
Bologna do not score. Do not score and you can not win. There will be a full stadium roaring them on against a side that have conceded 64 goals on Sunday.
There is still the nagging doubt in my mind that Bologna do not deserve to be in Serie A. Bologna the team, that is. Bologna’s fans undoubtedly do. Should Ballardini’s men do the unthinkable and win a sixth game of the season on Sunday, my thoughts will turn to them.
“Why do you put yourself through this every weekend for so little reward?”, and yet I already know the answer.
“What else can you do?”
