Sixty years after last being involved, Bologna returns to the highest level of European club competition as they welcome Shakhtar Donetsk to the Stadio Dall’Ara on Wednesday. With the Serie A outfit yet to taste victory this season, their visitors come into this opening league-phase match with a wealth of Champions League experience under their belts. Both teams will be desperate to kick-start their respective campaigns on a winning note.
Bologna vs Shakhtar Donetsk
Bologna entered the Champions League for the second time in their history—the other time was in the 1964 preliminary round. Now they will be one of the five sides making their debuts in the reformed version of the competition that will take place next season, 2024-25. Bologna finished with a record 68 points in Serie A last season, coming fifth, yet they have opened the new term in a very slow way under the new coach, Vincenzo Italiano. Bologna is currently 17th in the league, competitive, and still winless after picking two draws and a loss in the last three encounters. Bologna has never been defeated in any European competition at Stadio Dall’Ara, with 15 wins in 23 matches.
Meanwhile, Shakhtar Donetsk has always been among the regulars in the Champions League and even reached as far as a quarter-final round recently, in 2011. For the sixth successive year, though, they have fallen at the group stage; this time is far more painful having failed to go through after beating Porto last season.
Shakhtar managed to have a successful season in the domestic region in the 2023-24 season as they won their 15th title in the Ukrainian Premier League, managing to do a double. This very season has been quite inconsistent, and two defeats are already there in five matches played. On their way, the team’s performance in the Champions League will have slightly worried them, with just two wins in their last 11 away matches. Historically, they have always struggled in Italy, having lost 10 out of 15 matches against Serie A clubs.
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The presence of Emil Holm and Martin Erlic on the bench vs. Como is a signal that things are slowly improving. All the others for the longer term: still out there are Oussama El Azzouzi and Nicolo Cambiaghi with knee problems, and Lewis Ferguson with an ACL injury. Bologna’s team captain, Riccardo Orsolini, who scored on the opening matchday, is set to be back in the Bologna starting lineup, probably playing in front of either Santiago Castro or Thijs Dallinga.
Last term, the top scorer in the Champions League this season is tied for his club at four goals with Shakhtar Donetsk’s attacker Danylo Sikan. Another key man for them will be midfield maestro Georgiy Sudakov, who recently found the net for Ukraine; he created the most chances for Shakhtar in the group stage last term. Brazilian midfielder Marlon Gomes might feature and fit again after a hamstring injury.
This is where experience will give Shakhtar the advantage, but based on their poor away record this season and failures on Italian soil, they could find it tough at Stadio Dall’Ara. The early season performances from Bologna under Vincenzo Italiano have been far from impressive, but they can certainly hold their own and run out with a draw in their Champions League return.
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