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Bologna chases Europe, Motta: 'Forward with enthusiasm'
It will be the Champions League play-off, at the Dall'Ara, where Bologna will be looking for their third consecutive home victory in the space of eleven days.
After the successes with Sassuolo (4-2) and Lecce (4-0), Thiago Motta's band is looking for a hat trick with Fiorentina to return to the solitary fourth place in the standings already occupied at Christmas, waiting for the recovery between Inter and Atalanta in program on February 28th.
The Bologna coach leaves the odds to his opponent, but promises a fight: "Fiorentina is a team built to remain in European competitions, but we want to continue on our path. It will be a good match to play. We will have to give our all and take advantage the enthusiasm of our people to face the match in the right way and try to bring it to our side".
Dall'Ara is a factor for the rossoblù, who at home have built the role of surprise in this Serie A: so far, in the championship, only one defeat in 12 games, dated 21 August with Milan making their championship debut, 9 wins (with Cagliari, Empoli, Frosinone, Lazio, Turin, Rome, Atalanta, Sassuolo and Lecce) and two draws (with Napoli and Genoa).
Translated into numbers, Bologna have collected 29 points out of 39 in the standings at home, with 22 goals scored and 7 conceded.
Numbers that rise further considering the victories at Dall'Ara in the Italian Cup with Cesena (2-0) and Verona (2-0), which bring the total balance of the season to 11 victories, 2 draws and one defeat with 26 goals scored and 7 conceded at home.
It will be a final exam for Bologna, in the presence of a Fiorentina who found success on Sunday with a 5-1 win over Frosinone after defeats in Serie A against Lecce and Inter and in the Super Cup against Napoli.
In case of success, the Italian team would put the arrow on the rossoblù, compared to whom they have two points to recover (37 points against 39).
The Apennine derby also represents a revenge for Motta's team, defeated at the Franchi in the first leg 2-1 and eliminated again in Florence, on penalties, from the Italian Cup.
Fiorentina found Belotti's first goal, Bologna is waiting for star Zirkzee, who hasn't scored at the Dall'Ara since November 27th against Torino, to unlock his skills at home.
But in the last round it found goals from Orsolini (2) and in the previous round the goal (first of the season) from Saelemaekers, in addition to the first goals from Beukema and Odgaard.
Bologna arrives in the best conditions not only due to the latest results: waiting for Castro, the Argentine striker purchased from Velez, who concluded the pre-Olympic season with the national team two days ago, Thiago Motta has the full squad, with Aebischer returning after a season of disqualification and Calafiori recovered from the blow to his right knee that had forced him out against Lecce.
Fiorentina wants a derby, Europe is up for grabs
A derby for Europe.
He is the one who is preparing to face Fiorentina in Bologna for the recovery of the 21st matchday postponed due to the Viola's commitment in January in the Super Cup in Riyadh.
For Vincenzo Italiano's team it is the first of the two derbies scheduled this week (on Sunday it will be staged in Empoli) and the objective is to give continuity to the 5-1 success obtained against Frosinone which interrupted a negative streak and regain , despite being aware of the difficulties of this match, an away victory that has been missing since December, 1-0 in Monza, goal by Lucas Beltran.
On this eve the coach, who will reach the milestone of 100 games in Serie A at the helm of Fiorentina, did not speak to the club's channels where instead Andrea Belotti spoke, fresh from his first goal in the new shirt scored last Sunday.
This is how the club chose to present the European champion striker who arrived on loan from Roma.
"I hoped to start well straight away. Then scoring against Fiesole was something magical, the celebration came spontaneously to me, I hope to score many more under our curve. I came to Florence because I thought that Fiorentina could be the best team congenial to my way of playing and seeing football: this was the moment for our paths to cross."
The former Giallorossi player arrived a few days ago but quickly settled in: "When you make these transfers in January there is little time to study your teammates and their way of playing, but I was still lucky - he declared - because I already knew many of them and that helped me. Everyone made me understand the importance of wearing this shirt and the bond with the fans. And the coach was the one who gave me the most from a gaming point of view by explaining to me straight away what he wanted from me. When all these factors are present, insertion becomes easier."
Belotti's objectives also include returning to the national team with a thought for the European Championships after winning the title in 2021, a memory that still gives him shivers: "From the first day of training camp we felt a magic within the group. C "it was the desire to be together, aware that we were playing for something important. Then we were lucky enough to have a person like Gianluca Vialli, who was fundamental for me: with words and gestures he knew how to get inside you, he gave us that strength in more to achieve that feat. A master of life, of football, of everything."
The attacker is announced among the starters tomorrow too, with Ikoné, Bonaventura (in the run-off with Beltran) and Nico Gonzalez in support.
Compared to the last match, Ranieri will return and replace the suspended Quarta, Faraoni-Kayode duel on the right, Arthur could return to the midfield.
The Viola will be followed and supported by over 1400 fans
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