Vincenzo Italiano acknowledges that Bologna’s “season is basically over now” after their 2-0 defeat to Juventus. However, he voiced frustration about the team’s lack of preparation time after their Europa League fixture against Aston Villa.
It has been a challenging week for Bologna, who suffered a significant 4-0 loss to Aston Villa in the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday, resulting in a 7-1 aggregate defeat.
Their match against Juventus also began poorly, conceding a goal within the first 90 seconds from a glancing header by Jonathan David. This was particularly surprising, as Bologna had not conceded a Serie A goal before halftime since their match against Milan in February.
Khephren Thuram scored a second goal, also with a header, while Emil Holm and Jonathan Rowe both hit the woodwork.
Italiano Frustrated by Bologna’s Schedule
“The performance was a result of facing a strong team that had a week to prepare every detail,” Italiano told DAZN Italia. “This isn’t an excuse, but it’s a fact that once again we arrived on Friday evening, had to travel immediately, and practically didn’t train at all. This has been the situation all year.”
“We conceded very early today because we were too spread out and lacked the correct formation. We adjusted a few things at halftime and suffered less. We created some chances, but I believe that early goal made it an uphill battle.
“It’s difficult not to be able to prepare for matches because there simply isn’t enough time, especially against a team that had a full week to focus solely on their plan.”
Bologna appeared fatigued and stretched due to their midweek commitments. The situation was compounded by an injury to Federico Bernardeschi, who suffered a thigh problem, leaving the team to finish the game with 10 men after all substitutions had been made.
“I told Bernardeschi it was my fault for introducing him. I saw how the Juventus fans applauded him before kickoff and thought it would be a nice moment to receive a tribute from the crowd. Santiago Castro was also tired, but unfortunately, Fede had just regained fitness, and I don’t think we’ll have him again for the rest of the season,” Italiano stated.
“There are always areas for improvement. The season is essentially finished for us now, so we must try to use these remaining games to improve and grow. We had aimed to still be competing for something important in April, and we achieved that, even if we dropped Serie A points to balance it out.
“Now, we have no idea what the future holds, but we just have to try and get as many points as possible.”
Bologna faces a challenging end to the season, with upcoming matches against Roma, Cagliari, Napoli, Atalanta, and Inter.
“Today, we wanted to be more aggressive with the midfielders rather than the defenders, but we weren’t accustomed to it, so we will try to work on that. As I said, we met the objectives we set for this season, and it’s a shame that the only games we lost in the Europa League were against Aston Villa, who I believe can win the trophy.
“We will try some tactical experiments, test some new players, and aim to at least secure eighth place.”
