A longing for Bologna
November 18th, 2011 | by Zachary Smith |Last month five goalless draws from seven Serie A matches prompted much debate regarding the lack of entertainment value in Italian football. Fleet Street’s finest battled it out around the breakfast table on Sky’s Sunday Supplement in the aftermath and declared the league boring; they clearly haven’t been watching AC Milan.
Their five consecutive wins and 18 goals scored is impressive enough, but it doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story of a remarkable season. A best run of form in half a decade has included a second half comeback from 3-0 down at Lecce aided by substitute Kevin-Prince Boateng’s hat-trick, a thrilling 3-2 win at Roma and the four goal thumpings of Parma and Catania.
Remarkably, this has all been played out against the backdrop of the traumatic revelations about the health of Milan players Gennaro Gattuso – who was diagnosed with a career-threatening eye issue – and Antonio Cassano, who has recently undergone heart surgery.
Times like these tend to unite teams with togetherness and spur them to great achievement but it may also be the explanation behind the incredible form of the enigma that is Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The Swedish international forward has been sensational of late, and already has eight goals and two assists to his name. He may have been anonymous at Wembley in midweek, but he was the star of the show in his last domestic match – that mauling of sixth placed Catania.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that it argues the case for backing Milan to win at Fiorentina on Saturday night at odds against, but instead we’re swerving the 90 minute price and having some of 188Bet’s 19/17 on there being over two and a half goals.
Despite their rise to third in the table, the Rossoneri remain shaky on their travels and may be looking towards Wednesday’s Champions League tie with Barcelona that will most likely determine the winner of Group H. Fiorentina, meanwhile, will be out to impress new manager Delio Rossi – installed after the dismissal of Siniša Mihajlović during the international break.
A bet on overs would have landed in 70% of Milan’s league games this season and their average of exactly three goals a game is not matched by any other side in Italy.
Following the Viola hasn’t been as rewarding. Their supporters have only witnessed more than two goals on three occasions, but those have all come since the start of October.
They save their shooting boots for the Stadio Artemio Franchi though, and have scored in all their home games so far. Conversely, Massimiliano Allegri’s side have conceded in every away fixture this term. Even with goalscoring wonderkids Stevan Jovetić and Alexandre Pato both likely to be on the bench, it’s hard to see either side stopping these trends this weekend.
Bologna v Cesena
Cesena are the only side in any of Europe’s top leagues yet to collect three points this season and we can’t see them returning from their visit to Bologna on Sunday with any to add to their total.
It’s now seven defeats and three draws from the opening ten games for Cesena who have started to find themselves cut off at the bottom of Serie A, marooned four points behind 19th placed Novara.
The sacking of Marco Giampaolo at the end of October failed to bring a reaction and with Daniele Arrigoni, in charge until the end of the season, they still went down 1-0 at home to Lecce in their last outing.
They’ve netted a paltry three goals and have failed to find the target in any of their four away games – all of which have ended in defeat.
Their opponents Bologna didn’t start much better. Stefano Pioli’s team took just one point from the first five fixtures – a 1-1 draw at Juventus – but have picked up in recent weeks.
Three wins followed in the next five matches and their position of 16th is possibly masked somewhat by the fact that they have already had to play four of the top five in the league.
Gaston Ramirez has been key to the revival of the Rossoblù. The Uruguayan attacking midfielder had provided three goals and three assists for his team and formed a good understanding with striker Robert Acquafresca.
A number of bigger clubs have been keeping tabs on the progress of Ramirez and, with Bologna billed as the early televised Italian game this Sunday, the 20-year-old has the perfect opportunity to put himself in the shop window with a match winning display.
Coral and Victor Chandler offer even money about Bologna continuing their upturn in fortune against a side bereft of goals, points and confidence, and we feel it’s worth snapping up before it disappears.
