A European with strong red and blue hues. Riccardo Calafiori’s last-gasp exploit on Monday evening against Croatia is on par with the performances of his Swiss teammates, from Freuler to Aebischer, up to Ndoye, even scoring against Germany. All polished up after Motta’s Champions League season, all protagonists and now opponents.
The Urbanski surprise
Only Calafiori’s disqualification for a double yellow card denies the rossoblù supporters a derby-formatted eighth-final with 4 players on the pitch, but certainly not the pride of seeing a piece of the team inside a national team, albeit an opponent. Should Saturday’s match go badly for the Azzurri, all of Bologna will line up together supporting Switzerland. The 27th canton of the confederation is here, period. However, there are another 5 “Bolognesi” in Germany for a total of 9. Only one has not yet seen the field, the Dutch Joshua Zirkzee. Until yesterday Skorupski kept him company, but the goalkeeper started the last match against the Netherlands. The surprise Urbanski, Thiago’s creation, already has three appearances of which two as a starter as an attacking midfielder, while Posch, immovable on the right, played three games of great substance with Austria. The circle is closed by the Danish Kristiansen, another regular starter, who until now has acted as a high left winger in the 5-man midfield.
The Motta cure
Only 7 other teams can boast a larger representation – Inter (13), Manchester City (13), Paris Saint-Germain (12), Real Madrid (12), Bayern (11), Leipzig (11) and Leverkusen (10). — Bologna’s potential next opponents, all between the first and second tier. What is surprising is the performance of the rossoblù. The ranking of goals and assists by club is led by Bologna with two goals scored, by Abischer and Ndoye, and five assists, from the last one by Calafiori for Zaccagni to that of Kristiansen for Hjuimand against England to pass then from Switzerland with Abischer and Freuler’s «red and blue brace» who served first the omnipresent 20 and then the unmarkable Ndoye. All below the big European teams, with Bayern and Barcelona at 5 (three goals and two assists and vice versa) and the others stuck at 3. It’s clear that the Motta care has polished them all up. Which is obvious when observing the three Swiss players who move, pass the ball to each other and chase their opponent with the same determination and clarity seen with the rossoblù shirt. It’s impossible not to cheer for them a little too.
Regret Orsolini
On Calafiori then, apotheosis and endless love. The boy is almost exaggerating, if he continues like this he risks finishing in the top 11 of the tournament. In defence, as an all-rounder, there are few like him. Everyone likes him. Like Ndoye, very fast, among the few to skip the man and now also scoring (one also disallowed). Prices increase for everyone. The only regret is not having been able to see Orsolini’s swerves, while there is a hint of concern for Lucumi, who came off on Monday after 26′ in the America’s Cup against Paraguay due to a muscle problem in his left thigh: it seems not serious and in any case there ‘It’s time to recover. Now let’s enjoy all ‘this Bologna’ in Europe, there not by chance.
