After a season of Serie B action, Bologna are back in the top flight again, but this time with a new owner and a sturdy defence.
Following their 1-1 draw with Pescara on Tuesday night, seven time champions Bologna sealed the final spot in Serie A for the 2015/16 season. While Carpi and Frosinone offer a freshness and a trip into the unknown, Delio Rossi’s side are a more austere proposition.
The Rossoblu were fortunate to progress from a semi-final in which Avellino outplayed them at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, only to see Daniele Cacia score after a defensive howler to see Bologna through by virtue of their higher league finish.
Playing at home in the second leg of the final saw a similar outcome, as the Delfini pressed and pressed towards the end of the game, but couldn’t break through for a second goal. At 1-1 overall, the higher placed Rossoblu took the step up.
American sports fans have a well-worn phrase, “Offense (attack) wins games; defence wins championships”. It is a lesson that Bologna have learned well this season.
A team based on solidity, the Rossoblu conceded just 35 goals in their 42 league games, giving them the second meanest backline in the league. That they only scored 49 at the other end came to mean nothing – though the lack of attacking threat made for some nervous moments in the home playoffs, particularly when down to ten men in the final.
Thirteen months on from the defeat to Catania that left Davide Ballardini’s side crashing to both the turf and Serie B, Bologna have returned. They have returned in a completely different look to the way they left, with new faces in practically every role.
Ballardini has gone, replaced by Diego Lopez, though he too left after a recent bad run and Delio Rossi was brought in to see the side across the line. That decision was not taken by Albano Guaraldi, the much-maligned president who oversaw a regime so comical that his fellow directors failed to meet a new signing at the airport. Guaraldi is gone, replaced by Joey Saputo, a Canadian businessman.
“I saw there was an opportunity to return Bologna to the glory of their past,” admitted Saputo after promotion had been clinched. The glory of their past is still a long way away, but a return to Serie A is a good start, at least.
Such sentiment from their president has meant that the bad blood that surrounded the club on their way to relegation has ebbed away – success, even at a more modest level, can often have that effect on supporters.
In a campaign that became something of an anti-climax, Bologna were threatening at the top of Serie B all season though were never quite able to keep up with Carpi. That said, it was only the last few weeks of the season that saw Frosinone shake them off – something that cost Diego Lopez his job.
With Delio Rossi at the helm, the football may not have been pretty, but the results have been effective. He has set a marker down and, having secured promotion, should have earned himself the opportunity to work with a team who are very much a work in progress.
However, the low goal tally has meant that Cacia’s 12 represents a high watermark, suggesting that the goalshy side that were demoted haven’t been entirely left behind, even if most of the members of it have. Yet even without the goalscoring issue, it is worth noting that there is a number of loan players within the squad. Even Karim Laribi, who has featured more than any other Bologna player this season, is borrowed – from Sassuolo.
That fact alone should ensure that Saputo has a busy summer renewing deals and bringing in new players as he looks to stabilise the club in Serie A. It will also mean that the number of familiar faces that return to Serie A count will be even lower. Robert Acquafresca remains at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, while Marco Di Vaio has returned to a more administrative role, and Archimede Morleo remains in the defence.
Serie B, then, has come to a close. After Carpi’s runaway success and the impassioned success of Frosinone, Bologna have brought something else to the party. They played poorly in all four of their playoff games – nullifying the away legs, and relying on their home form to see them through. In front of an all-star cast in the stands, and despite poor performances, it did so, and the Rossoblu take their place back amongst the elite.
The hard work starts here.
