Italiano: ‘Bologna turning point was Champions League’ | OneFootball

Vincenzo Italiano believes Champions League participation was a ‘turning point’ for Bologna, who crushed Empoli to be on the verge of their first Coppa Italia Final since 1974.

The Rossoblu had drawn both Serie A games 1-1 with Empoli, but were dominant here at the Stadio Castellani, an arena where Italiano had never won before in his coaching career.

Riccardo Orsolini continued his remarkable form to open the scoring, followed by a Thijs Dallinga brace, the striker ending his goal drought after more than two months.

“We wanted to give ourselves a good chance of going through in the second leg,” Italiano told Sport Mediaset.

“We had the right approach from the start, scoring early and then going into the break at 2-0. We managed to score a third too, but I think the approach and attitude was key, including our fans coming to the training ground yesterday and the hunger in my lads to put in this performance.

“Now we go into the second leg with a 3-0 advantage, we won the first ‘half’ of the tie and will try to do the same in the second.”

Italiano saw Bologna change gear after Europe

BOLOGNA, ITALY – JANUARY 21: Vincenzo Italiano, Head Coach of Bologna, gives instructions to Emil Holm during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD7 match between Bologna FC 1909 and Borussia Dortmund at Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on January 21, 2025 in Bologna, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

This was a sixth consecutive victory in all competition for Bologna, who in 2025 have lost only one match, earning 11 wins and five draws.

“We said many times that the Champions League participation taught us so much, as we faced some of the best teams in Europe with a different level of tempo and intensity. We took all those lessons, especially the mental boost of beating Borussia Dortmund on a magical night, and carried it on to the other competitions.

“It let us climb back up the Serie A standings and reach the Coppa Italia semi-final. I do feel the Champions League marked a turning point for this team,” explained Italiano.

Remo Freuler and Lewis Ferguson were the keys to dominating the match in the middle of the park, agreed the coach.

“The midfield is often where games are won and lost. Remo and Lewis were fantastic tonight, so aggressive and had quality too, it was one of their best performances. They’ve been here many years, Lewis is the captain, and they really want Bologna to achieve something extraordinary.

“The club hasn’t been in the Coppa Italia Final for a long time, so we all have this dream and the lads gave their all to help it happen.”

Bologna are on track to reach the Coppa Italia Final for only the third time in their history, having won the trophy in both 1970 and 1974.

Italiano is proving himself to be a Cup specialist, participating in the Coppa Italia and Conference League Final with Fiorentina in 2023, then again the Conference League Final in 2024.

It was put to the coach that his forwards always tend to score a lot of goals, so is it his style or does he pick good forwards?

“When you have a player like Orsolini who is almost unique in his style of being a wide attacker, you have to make the most of it. We have many different players who scored this season, which means we’re attacking from different angles.

“I am really pleased for Dallinga, who hadn’t scored for a while and had been dealing with an injury. Everyone knows what a boost it is for a striker to get goals, so we hope he can keep going like this.

“So let’s say it is 99 per cent down to the players and as a coach I’ll take 1 per cent for myself,” smiled Italiano.