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The hosts will play in Europe’s best competition for the first time in 60 years and our Italian football expert, Daniele Fisichella, has prepared Bologna vs Juventus prediction, team news, lineups and fixtures preview.
Prediction: Bologna 1-0 Juventus
There will be a party atmosphere at the Stadio ‘Renato Dall’Ara’ on Monday night as Thiago Motta’s men celebrate an amazing achievement. With two games to go in Serie A, they have the opportunity to consolidate their third place in the table.
Italy, Serie A, Monday, May 20th, 19:45 (UK)
Last Saturday it only took Bologna three minutes to score twice against Napoli and secure their 18th wins of the season.
The Rossoblù will play in the Champions League for the first time as their only participation in Europe’s major club competition happened in 1964, when it was still called the European Cup.
This season, Bologna have been one of the most entertaining and competitive teams in the league, achieving something that would have been almost unthinkable nine months ago.
The hosts have only been defeated once (1-0 by Inter) in their last 16 games and have produced strong performances against all of Italy’s top teams.
Bologna has only lost three of the 17 games they’ve played against teams occupying the top half of the table, failing to score in just four occasions.
Thiago Motta’s men’s home record is second only to the champions (40 points, five less of the Nerazzurri) as they’ve only conceded nine goals, just one more than Torino.
The defensive phase is the real secret of Bologna’s success, not only in terms of positional defending but also the counter pressing approach and the team’s synchronized movements.
The hosts have conceded only 27 goals so far and have Serie A’s second best defence behind Inter. If they manage a clean sheet in each of their last two games they’d end up the campaign with less goals conceded than the last five clubs that won the Scudetto.
In fact, last season, Napoli let in 28 goals. The previous year, AC Milan under Stefano Pioli conceded 31. In 2021/2022, Antonio Conte’s Inter record was 35, and the last two times Juventus won the title they conceded 41 with Maurizio Sarri and 34 with Massimiliano Allegri.
These figures highlight once more how extraordinary has Motta’s work has been in the last season and a half at the club. The manager’s future is still uncertain as he’s been linked with many clubs including Juventus.
The Bianconeri ended their four-year trophy drought with a deserved, and unexpected, win over Atalanta – a hard-fought 1-0 success that does not cancel this season’s struggles.
After a promising start of the campaign with 16 wins in the first 21 games, Juve’s form has fallen off a cliff from February onwards. They’ve collected only 15 points in the last 15 games, as they won only two of them (against Frosinone and Fiorentina, both at home), and recorded a -2 goal difference.
The Bianconeri have drawn their last five games in Serie A, including last Sunday against bottom-of-the-league Salernitana.
Juventus hadn’t shared the points so many times (13 so far) during a Serie A campaign since 2011/2012, where despite the many dropped points they won the title, under Conte, with 84 points.
Despite having not played in Europe Juventus are now two points worse off compared to last year and would need to win on Monday and next weekend against Monza to achieve a better tally than in 2022/2023.
In the end, Massimiliano Allegri’s side, who are winless away from home since 21 January, would probably need to thank Atalanta whose victory over Roma handed Juve, and Bologna, the mathematical qualification to next season’s Champions League.
Even their good defensive record, with five clean sheets in the first six games on the road, has quickly vanished. In fact, excluding the derby against Torino Juve have conceded at least a goal in all of their last six away games.
Bologna vs Juventus Prediction odds via bet365 as at 16:00, May 14th, 2024. Odds may now differ.
Bologna will be without Joshua Zirkzee whose Serie A season is over due to a muscular injury the Dutch striker picked up last weekend. Odgaard will play up front with Saelemakers and Ndoye in support. Fabbian, Aebischer and Freuler will be in midfield. At the back Beukema might replace Lucumì.
Allegri will make some turnover after the Coppa Italia final, therefore Kostic is expected to start at left wing-back in place of Iling-Junior and Alcaraz might replace Mckennie. Rugani and Alex Sandro might find space in the back three, with Perin who’s in contention with Szczesny to start in goal. Up front Vlahovic will pair up with Milik
Bologna possible starting lineup:
Ravaglia; Posch, Lucumí, Calafiori, Kristiansen; Freuler, Fabbian, Aebischer; Ndoye, Saelemakers; Odgaard.
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Szczęsny; Gatti, Rugani, Danilo; Cambiaso; Alcaraz, Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostic; Milik, Vlahovic.
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