Bologna faces the obstacle of Nicola. Italiano is now chasing third place. But Immobile remains sidelined.
Bologna, 1 December 2025 – Chasing third placeBologna would achieve this goal tonight (though not alone) with a victory. They’re also chasing a draw, because Vincenzo Italiano, in the Dall’Ara fortress, would like to add another gem to his collection of twelve consecutive unbeaten results against Cremonese. It goes without saying that even a draw is a useful result for statistics. But Bologna, which today begins a fiery December that will see them competing on four fronts (league, Europa League, Coppa Italia, and Italian Super Cup), clearly can’t settle for a draw against a Cremonese side that is slowly slipping toward its status as a team destined to fight for survival.
After a sprint start, the team of that real man on the bench who answers to the name of Davide nicola, a coach who always leaves the Dall’Ara stadium to a round of applause, has suffered three straight defeats against Juventus, Pisa, and Roma. Yesterday, the Grigiorossi coach applied an old psychological strategy, trying to turn the difficulties—in this case, the greatest—into opportunities: “I’m happy to face Bologna after facing Juve and Roma. These are the games that allow you to take a step forward.”
A pat of encouragement on the back for his boys and yet another acknowledgement of the strength of the rossoblù, now effectively treated with the attention reserved for the big teams. And Bologna, as great as they are today at 23 p.m., would be even greater if they could climb to third place, while waiting to break the ice (also meteorological). Thursday in the Coppa Italia at the Dall’Ara against Parma, another match not to be missed.
In the meantime, a new turnover is upon us, also because some of those called up are leaving (Vitik for muscle fatigue) and someone comes back (Rowe and Cambiaghi). The only one who, somewhat surprisingly, continues to be a spectator is Immobile, who was once again left off the squad yesterday. From August 23rd, when he was injured at the Olimpico, to today marks exactly one hundred days: Bologna’s one hundred days without King Ciro, who has lost his crown but hopes to regain some health, because with each missed call-up, his recovery becomes a puzzle that deepens.
A Casteldebole They swear he’s regaining his form and confidence: see you in the Coppa Italia, hoping it’s the right time. Luckily, Bologna has plenty of ways to score. The last ones go through Bernardeschi found, on target against Udinese and Salzburg and therefore an extremely authoritative alter ego of the almost immovable Orsolini.
And if the recoveries of Holm, Cambiaghi and Rowe multiply the options on the bands up frontCastro and Dallinga In these last hundred days, they haven’t made Immobile’s absence felt. The rest is statistics.
Nicola has beaten Bologna in his career while managing Crotone, Udinese, and Genoa, and held them to a draw twice against Salernitana, only to be defeated at Empoli and Cagliari (twice last season). Let’s hope the applause tonight is all for Italiano.
Probable lineups
BOLOGNA (4-2-3-1): Ravaglia; Holm, Heggem, Lucumi, Lykogiannis; Moro, Ferguson; Orsolini, Odgaard, Dominguez; Castro. Coach: Italiano. CREMONESE (3-5-2): Audero; Terracciano, Baschirotto, Bianchetti; Barbieri, Bondo, Grassi,
Vandeputte, Pezzella; Vardy, Bonazzoli. Coach: Nicola
REFEREE: Feliciani from Teramo
Where to watch the match
The match will be broadcast live on DAZN at 20.45pm.
