From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market1 Feb 2027
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Thijs Dallinga reports back to Bologna with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad1 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market1 Feb 2027
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Bologna heard it as anything else.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jhon Lucumí, and the manager let it.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.85, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
A performance of 8.42 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Marked 8.31 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.17, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Jan 2027
3 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Match20 Jan 2027
Bologna march on in the cup
Fiorentina are out and Bologna go through, 1‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market25 Jan 2027
Bologna say no — this time
The offer from Juve Stabia for Jonathan Rowe was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Loan watch25 Jan 2027
21 appearances away from home and 18 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Riccardo Orsolini was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market25 Jan 2027
The name of Thijs Dallinga has come up in conversations Bologna were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Remo Freuler gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Marked 8.82 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
In brief
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Player ratings
Giovane in the eights
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Boardroom
115% of the income goes out in wages at Bologna
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Player ratings
Nicolò Casale misses from twelve yards
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Jan 2027
Nadir Zortea hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bologna can pretend not to have heard.
Market18 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad18 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market18 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Jonathan Rowe again, and this time the name on the line is Empoli. Bologna are listening politely and promising nothing.
Match16 Jan 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Benjamín Domínguez. 3‑2 against Lecce, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.13, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
A performance of 8.89 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Marked 8.43 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market11 Jan 2027
Nicolò Cambiaghi has left for AC Milan in a $20.8M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Market11 Jan 2027
Lazio paid $6.5M and Bologna took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Riccardo Orsolini was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market11 Jan 2027
The fee is $450.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Frosinone drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Loan watch11 Jan 2027
The goals keep arriving from Antonio Raimondo’s exile
16 goals in 19 games at Frosinone — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Bologna updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Match9 Jan 2027
Thijs Dallinga scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Parma, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Federico Bernardeschi, and the manager let it.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.13, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market4 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad4 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Loan watch4 Jan 2027
The goals keep arriving from Antonio Raimondo’s exile
15 goals in 18 games at Frosinone — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Bologna updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Market4 Jan 2027
Add another name to the list: Lazio have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Eivind Helland. The answer from Bologna has not changed — yet.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.71, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Loan watch4 Jan 2027
“I watch every Bologna game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Triestina runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 Dec 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bologna can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Riccardo Orsolini was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
47 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Match26 Dec 2026
Bologna get the job done against Pisa
A 4‑2 win over Pisa, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
A performance of 9.18 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Marked 8.98 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 184% of everything Bologna earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
A performance of 8.94 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Dec 2026
There were 11 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
The terraces21 Dec 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Remo Freuler was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match19 Dec 2026
AS Roma left with the points after a 2‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Shots: 11, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Marked 8.86 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Dec 2026
7 goals and a season average of 7.33. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to João Mário, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match9 Dec 2026
Bologna march on in the cup
Pisa are out and Bologna go through, 4‑3 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Squad14 Dec 2026
The match ball belongs to Thijs Dallinga, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Squad14 Dec 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Nicolò Casale: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bologna have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Riccardo Orsolini was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Marked 9.70 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Nobody could get near Simon Sohm
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match12 Dec 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Marked 8.95 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
There were 13 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market7 Dec 2026
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad7 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Remo Freuler
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
A performance of 8.84 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Marked 8.34 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.04, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Loan watch7 Dec 2026
The goals keep arriving from Antonio Raimondo’s exile
12 goals in 14 games at Frosinone — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Bologna updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Match5 Dec 2026
It needed Riccardo Orsolini to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Como, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 33 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad30 Nov 2026
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 31 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Defensive actions: 27. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
81 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Riccardo Orsolini was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 222% of everything Bologna earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Match28 Nov 2026
A 2‑0 win over Fiorentina, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Nov 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Bologna, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad23 Nov 2026
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Squad23 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.56, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.44 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.46 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad23 Nov 2026
5 goals and a season average of 7.21. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market16 Nov 2026
Nadir Zortea hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bologna can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Riccardo Orsolini was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match14 Nov 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.03, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Marked 8.48 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Marked 8.39 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad16 Nov 2026
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Łukasz Skorupski knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 36 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Match4 Nov 2026
Bologna march on in the cup
Carrarese are out and Bologna go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 25 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad9 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match7 Nov 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.27, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
The goals keep arriving from Antonio Raimondo’s exile
9 goals in 11 games at Frosinone — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Bologna updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad2 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 115 days on the sidelines for Jens Odgaard, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Remo Freuler in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match31 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Bologna do not lose
7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Market2 Nov 2026
Juan Miranda wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Bologna hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Match31 Oct 2026
A 4‑2 win over Torino, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.34, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
A performance of 9.21 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
A performance of 9.14 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 222% of everything Bologna earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Oct 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Bologna, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match24 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Bologna do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A performance of 9.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Shots: 13, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Squad26 Oct 2026
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Łukasz Skorupski knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Match24 Oct 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Hellas Verona leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Loan watch26 Oct 2026
The goals keep arriving from Antonio Raimondo’s exile
8 goals in 9 games at Frosinone — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Bologna updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Riccardo Orsolini was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A performance of 9.33 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Marked 8.65 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.54, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thijs Dallinga, and the manager let it.
Match17 Oct 2026
It needed Santiago Castro to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Sassuolo, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Market19 Oct 2026
The name of Santiago Castro keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Bologna say nothing, which says plenty.
The terraces19 Oct 2026
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Santiago Castro. 3‑2 against Atalanta, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
A performance of 9.09 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Marked 8.95 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.88 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Thijs Dallinga knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Thijs Dallinga trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market12 Oct 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bologna know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Oct 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Bologna, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Riccardo Orsolini was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match3 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Thijs Dallinga. 2‑1 against Cagliari, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 349% of everything Bologna earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Marked 8.76 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nadir Zortea, and the manager let it.
Loan watch5 Oct 2026
The goals keep arriving from Antonio Raimondo’s exile
7 goals in 6 games at Frosinone — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Bologna updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bologna, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bologna can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Bologna's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Bologna has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 8.62 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Lewis Ferguson
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match26 Sep 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Shots: 8, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Riccardo Orsolini was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match19 Sep 2026
Bologna and Genoa take a point apiece
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The terraces21 Sep 2026
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Shots: 10, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Sep 2026
The medical room confirms 24 days on the sidelines for Juan Miranda, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad14 Sep 2026
João Mário in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match12 Sep 2026
Santiago Castro scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Juventus, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.31 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 8.21 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Market14 Sep 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Bologna will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Nikola Moro gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 34. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market7 Sep 2026
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Bologna heard it as anything else.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Riccardo Orsolini was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Wages eat 321% of everything Bologna earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Match5 Sep 2026
A bad afternoon for Bologna against Lecce
0‑1 to Lecce, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market7 Sep 2026
Altamura are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Bologna will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Shots: 8. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Defensive actions: 36, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bologna can pretend not to have heard.
Market31 Aug 2026
Bologna say no — this time
The offer from Pineto for Darius Cristian Groza was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad31 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A performance of 9.73 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Defensive actions: 20, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Match29 Aug 2026
Three points for Bologna, 1‑0 the final word against Parma in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The medical room confirms 20 days on the sidelines for Remo Freuler, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Riccardo Orsolini was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market24 Aug 2026
The name of Benjamín Domínguez has come up in conversations Bologna were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Santiago Castro
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Shots: 15, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Market24 Aug 2026
He is 16, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
Sampdoria come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Bologna did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The medical room confirms 61 days on the sidelines for Juan Miranda, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market17 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Inter have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Nicolò Casale. The answer from Bologna has not changed — yet.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market10 Aug 2026
Nadir Zortea hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bologna can pretend not to have heard.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Santiago Castro commits to Bologna for another 5 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bologna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Bologna have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Lewis Ferguson
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bologna can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Riccardo Orsolini commits to Bologna for another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Riccardo Orsolini was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Bologna, another week without a signature from Remo Freuler.
Market3 Aug 2026
Still no offer on the table, and Riccardo Orsolini’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Santiago Castro trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.