Bologna falls at San Siro: Milan wins and complicates the European race

by the envoy

It was the final dress rehearsal of Coppa Italia: failed. It was the springboard for the ambitions of Champions: but the Bologna in the house of the Devil he put a foot wrong, or rather three, giving away (that's the right verb) three points that now risk weighing heavily also in the race for the other Europe.

Al Meazza the awakening was abrupt, as was the signal of fragility that the rossoblù sent to the rossoneri, opponents on Wednesday night at the Olimpico in the final act of the national cup and inevitably reinvigorated by the show of strength offered yesterday in the second half, when the substitutions of Conceiçao, Gimenez and Chukwueze above all, turned the match inside out unlike those of Italiano, which sank the team.

After that, nothing is lost, the theoretical possibilities of catching Europe remain alive, considering that Lazio-Juve today and Atalanta-Roma tomorrow will not be able to give points to all the rivals. And the hope of being able to get back on their feet for the night of the history of the Olimpico is also alive, as invoked, with a warm final applause, by the thousand rossoblù fans present yesterday in the third ring of San Siro.

They were the vanguards of the thirty thousand Bolognese hearts marching on Rome that yesterday probably broke in unison in the 19 minutes of the second half in which the Milan, with Gimenez's brace and Pulisic's goal, shattered the dreams of Italiano's boys.

It's a shame, because after a first half played at such a slow pace that it seemed like the warm-up phase for Wednesday's match at the Olimpico, the Bologna in the second half he entered the field with a completely different attitude.

Orsolini, who before the break had kicked the ball into the sky to potentially lead the way, remembered in the 49th minute that he was the team's most prolific goalscorer: an illuminating aerial pass from Dallinga and a curling left-footed shot from Orso, his thirteenth goal in the championship, the same as Gilardino's in 2012-13.

Then, after an hour of play, Italiano's conservative choice benched the assist-man and the evening's top scorer in one fell swoop. Conceiçao, on the other hand, pulled Gimenez and Chukwueze out of his hat, real aces up his sleeve that shuffled the field.

Between Cambiaghi, Lykogiannis, Lucumi and De Silvestri in a few minutes it seemed like a competition to see who could hand the keys to victory to the Devil first. Cheered up by such generosity, Milan Milan did it, the team that in the top European leagues is second only to Atletico Madrid for points recovered from disadvantaged situations: 22, against the 23 of the Madrid team.

Italian instead will have to question the reasons for a blackout that has few precedents in the season and that casts sinister shadows on the final at the Olimpico. Where there is a Milan who now knows how to hit the Bologna in its weak points.