Bologna host Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday, with the home team still seeking their first win in the competition this season.
The visitors come into this fixture just outside the automatic qualification spots for the knockout stages, so they will have plenty of incentive to win in Italy.
Match preview
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Bologna have had a troubled season in Europe, and having suffered four defeats from their first six games, they only have two points on the board so far in the standings.
I Rossoblu qualified for the top-level of European football for the first time since 1964-65 with a fifth-place finish in Serie A last season, and they entered the competition full of optimism under new head coach Vincenzo Italiano.
Italiano replaced outgoing boss Thiago Motta in the summer, with the former Paris-Saint Germain midfielder departing for Juventus last June.
Under their new head coach, their inexperience at this level has shown, with the club struggling to perform at both ends of the pitch in Europe.
Bologna have scored just once in the Champions League this season, while conceding seven times, making them the competition's lowest-scoring side.
With eight points the maximum total that they can achieve, the hosts are on the brink of elimination from the competition – with only three teams in the playoff positions mathematically possible to catch for the Italian side, their chances of reaching the knockout stages are very slim.
Overall, this campaign has also not reached the same heights as last year just yet, with a slow start to the season seeing Italiano's team begin his reign with just one win in their first 11 matches.
Seven wins from their next 12 games in all competitions saw a big improvement in form in Serie A, before ending 2024 with a 3-2 defeat to Hellas Verona in December.
They began 2025 with back-to-back draws with Roma and Inter Milan, before a 3-1 win against Monza on Saturday left them in sixth in Serie A, to continue their unbeaten start to the year heading into this crunch clash.
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Meanwhile, their visitors have enjoyed a far better year in Europe, as they sit ninth in the table, with 12 points from their six games.
Beaten finalists in this competition last season, Dortmund were always among the favourites to qualify for the knockout phase automatically, and a strong finish to the group would help ensure that they do.
Emphatic wins against the likes of Celtic, Club Brugge and Dinamo Zagreb have ensured a healthy goal difference, despite defeats to the heavyweights of Real Madrid and Barcelona.
However, Dortmund's good form in Europe has yet to be replicated in the league, as they disappointingly find themselves in 10th place in the Bundesliga.
Their 2-0 defeat away to Frankfurt on Friday evening was already their 10th loss of the season in all competitions, with BVB finding life difficult under Nuri Sahin, who replaced former boss Edin Terzic in the summer.
With the visitors performing below expectations, there has been plenty of speculation surrounding Sahin's future at the club, with some recent media reports linking former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag with the role.
Sahin will hope that his side can continue to perform in Europe, as they are the second-highest scoring team in the Champions League this season, with their 18 goals only bettered by Barcelona, who have struck 21 times.
Up against a goal-shy Bologna team, they will fancy their chances of keeping a clean sheet in Italy, but the Serie A side have managed two clean sheets themselves in the tournament, meaning that goals at the other end are far from guaranteed.
Dortmund will look to improve on their miserable away record this season, with the Bundesliga club losing eight times already on the road this season in all competitions.
With just one win in their last eight matches in all competitions, including three consecutive defeats at the beginning of 2025, Sahin's future may well depend on the outcome of this match.
Team News
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Bologna's main injury concern ahead of this clash is Swiss midfielder Michel Aebischer, who is sidelined with a hernia problem.
Long-term absentees Nicolo Cambiaghi and Oussama El Azzouzi have returned to training but are not expected to return to action just yet.
Meanwhile, the visitors will be without Niklas Sule, who is out until next month with an ankle injury.
Fellow defender Ramy Bensebaini is suspended for this clash after picking up his third yellow card of the group phase last time out against Barcelona.
Bologna possible starting lineup:
Skorupski; Lykogiannis, Casale, Beukema, Holm; Moro, Freuler, Orsolini, Odgaard, Ndoye; Castro
Borussia Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Kobel; Ryerson, Anton, Schlotterbeck, Kabar; Can, Gross, Nmecha; Brandt, Bynoe-Gittens, Guirassy
We say: Bologna 0-1 Borussia Dortmund
It has been a tough start for the year for Dortmund and with the pressure on their boss, we think they will grab a win that will keep Sahin in his job at least a little longer.
We think that the visitors will edge a close encounter against a Bologna side that have found it difficult to score goals in the Champions League this season.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Tom Humphrey
