how Thiago Motta made Bologna the curiosity of Serie A

The former PSG midfielder is now coach of Bologna, surprising fourth in the Italian championship.

Like Aston Villa in England or Girona in Spain, Italy is also counting its autumn hit. Anchored in fourth place in Serie A after 16 days, Bologna is ahead of Naples, reigning champion, or AS Roma, finalist of the last Europa League, for example. A surprise at first sight, for this club subscribed to the anonymity of the soft underbelly of the Italian championship but now third defense in Italy (12 goals conceded), behind Inter (which it has just overthrown in the Italian Cup, 2-1 in overtime) and Juventus. The Emilia-Romagna club, absent from the European Cups for 22 years, will try to refine its ambitions against Atalanta, another contender, on Saturday December 23.

“The fans have the right to dream, we only think about training”, maliciously evacuated coach Thiago Motta after a convincing victory against Roma (2-0) on Sunday. Diplomatic in his remarks, the former Italian international (30 caps) carefully lets his Bolognese team simmer. “He’s a great coach, he’s a perfectionistpraised the Swiss Dan Ndoye in La Gazzetta dello Sport. With him, we have a strong identity and we can scare everyone.”

His exciting style of play, based on ball control and marked, in particular, by short restarts, impresses in Italy. “He manages his team without being the protagonist, he doesn’t exhaust himself screaming at the side of the pitch”describes Francesco Graziani, world champion in 1982, in the Corriere di Bologna. This phlegm was already observed on the pitch, when Motta controlled the midfield of Inter (2009-12) or PSG (2012-18). “He was already a coach on the field!”confirms ex-defender Marco Materazzi in La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Mihajlovic’s legacy

Unlike Xabi Alonso (Bayer Leverkusen), another ex-defensive midfielder who had an idyllic start on the bench, Thiago Motta has a less straight trajectory. In a very delicate context, he only played 10 matches at Genoa in 2019, before really launching his coaching career at Spezia in 2021. With very limited resources, the Italian-Brazilian kept the Ligurian club in Serie A, before being appointed to Bologna in September 2022 to replace the iconic Sinisa Mihajlovic – died of cancer three months later.

By building on the work of his predecessor, who perpetuated Bologna in the middle of the table, Motta took him a step further. Thiago Motta relies on a group enriched with a few rogues from Serie A, but also young people with high potential like Lewis Ferguson and especially Joshua Zirkzee. After a first season of adaptation, this young Dutchman (22 years old) already has seven goals in Serie A, where he is currently the fourth top scorer. “With him, I feel like I’m seeing Dennis Bergkamp again!”exclaimed Francesco Graziani in the Italian press.

Zirkzee is one of technical director Giovanni Sartori’s many signings. This architect of miracles from Chievo Verona (moved from the third division to the European Cup) then from Atalanta (became a regular in European competitions) was appointed in 2022 and forms an effective duo with Motta. In their first season together, they took Bologna to ninth place, their highest ranking in the 21st century.

The Champions League in Bologna… or elsewhere?

“After a very good season, we didn’t think we would rise so quickly [dans le classement]but we cultivated the idea of ​​disturbing the adults”, says sports director Marco di Vaio to “Cronache di Spogliatoio”. The plan has been going smoothly so far. The Rossoblu were the only ones not to lose at Inter (2-2) and held Juventus (1-1) as well as Napoli (0-0) in check. Only two defeats on their record, against AC Milan (0-1) and Fiorentina (2-1).

It’s even better at home, where Bologna has the third best record in the Boot. Enough to trigger a craze. The Renato-Dall’Ara stadium, overlooked by a unique tower, welcomes more than 25,000 spectators per match, its best average for more than 20 years. Better hurry up and see the attraction, because Motta is not said to last in Emilia-Romagna. His rating continues to climb to the point that he is regularly announced by the Italian press in the biggest European clubs, from PSG to Inter via Naples.