For the second evening in a row, the Champions League party explodes: this time it is that of mathematical certainty. After the frenzy of Saturday night in Casteldebole, this time it is Piazza Maggiore that hosts the crazy joy of thousands of rossoblù hearts. An evening surrounded by an almost surreal silence between 8.45pm and 9.30pm, punctuated by two roars following De Ketelaere’s goals in Atalanta-Roma. The first timid honks, some red and blue flags starting to circulate around the centre where Neptune is caged and there are the closed stands of StraBologna (in the morning more than some of the 22,000 at the start crossed paths with Motta or the players, posing for selfies, while Cesare Cremonini was at breakfast with Maradona’s hero Federico Ravaglia). The rossoblù people begin to fill the square shortly before 10pm: «We’re going to the Champions League» is the chorus, regardless of Pellegrini’s 2-1, which takes the place of the «Song of the sun» that a couple of strummers were singing on the Crescentone. Then the long wait, the decibels rising and at 10.40pm the roar of Piazza Maggiore, now full, and the smoke bombs going off: chants, hugs, pats on the back.
Saputo’s message to the city
Sports councilor Li Calzi is also celebrating, there in the crowd, while Palazzo Re Enzo turns red and blue and a few minutes later the fireworks set off in the square. The choirs are varied and follow one another as in a match that has the square as the theater, from those against Juventus and Fiorentina to the pro ones, led by owner Joey Saputo, with the classic “the UEFA Cup is no longer enough, we want the Champions League to beat the shit out of Real Madrid”. President Saputo himself is the first to send a message of love to the city: «I am returning to Bologna in these hours to celebrate this historic milestone together with the whole city. Bologna returns to Europe and does so by qualifying for the most important competition, the Champions League, sixty years after participating in the then Champions Cup. My family and I want to share this immense joy with Thiago and his boys who have accomplished a memorable feat, with all the managers, employees and collaborators of Bologna who work every day for the good of the club and in particular with all our fantastic fans, who deserve this satisfaction more than any other because they have been always at Bologna’s side, even in the most difficult moments of our history.”
The team saw the match in Casteldebole
Touching Riccardo Orsolini: ««It was unthinkable, but this shows you that if you believe in yourself and in what you do everything pays off, I stopped crying just 30 seconds ago. We all watched the match together at the sports centre. I thought of Sinisa Mihajlovic when the match ended. It’s something crazy. We still have to do it.” The groups from the Curva arrive in the square, they wave their banners, the firecrackers ring out: a total delirium, like and more than a championship. The Champions League jingle resounds everywhere in the city. The team watched the match in Casteldebole, after having spent a long time together during the day.
The return after 60 years
No tour with the open bus, but after the end of Atalanta-Roma the players went out to greet the fans in Casteldebole and captain Lorenzo De Silvestri sealed the party like this: «A fantastic emotion to share with everyone». And then the players take to the streets to join the fans.
Bologna had been in the most noble cup created in 1955 only once, in the 1964-65 season. The party in Piazza Maggiore is the final act of an extraordinary championship. Bologna rose to take Juve in third place and entered the Olympus of the Champions League. An unthinkable mission in summer. The best world to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the 1964 championship. Today it’s like having won it.
