Jonatan, one of the heroes of the last Bologna Cup semi-finalist: "With the VAR we would have gone through. There is a great project in Casteldebole". Binotto's assist: "Vincenzo, believe in the final. How infuriating that penalty not given against Viola"

"That double semi-final with the Fiorentina I still carry it with me: not only for my brace in the return match but because if there had been VAR in the final then Coppa Italia we would have gone. Maybe this is the shot that succeeds in this Bologna...". That Bologna and this Bologna: Jonathan Binotto it unites an ideal bridge 'long' twenty-six years between two teams that have made, and are making, history under the Two Towers.

Binotto, what a night that night: March 10, 1999, Franchi stadium, his brace in the ninety minutes of regulation equalizes the 0-2 of the first leg. Then came the goals of Cois and Rui Costa to seal the mockery.

"We were really close to achieving the feat. After the 2-0 in the first leg they didn't expect us to be able to turn it around, but we managed it with the awareness of our means and the serenity that Mazzone knew how to instil in that group."

Borriello of Mantua, who was he?

"The referee who didn't see Torricelli's handball in the Viola area that night: today with VAR it would be the easiest penalty to award."

Did you see what a coup Bologna made in Italian?

"I saw the move that Bologna pulled off but above all I saw a game of total football played with incredible intensity. Italiano just needed a little time to shape a team in his own image and likeness. And when I see the central defender who goes up to press in the three-quarter line I see a team that today has its own identity."

Well done everyone at Casteldebole?

"Good job reaping the fruits of work that began ten years ago. Back then you had to build everything from scratch, today you can afford to make targeted interventions: bringing Sartori here was a decisive move."

Now in the semi-final of the Coppa Italia the double challenge with Thiago looms.

"Are you so sure? With this Juve you always have to score a triple."

How does winger Binotto judge the attacking wingers of this Bologna?

"Thirty years ago the winger would reach the byline and cross: today, however, if you play in that position you also have to 'enter' the pitch and this gives you the chance to score a few more goals."

Ndoye and Nervo: can we risk a comparison?

"On a technical level, Ndoye has something more, but for application, tactical sense and discipline I'll keep Carletto."

And Carletto Mazzone?

"Sometimes I think back to him, to Giuseppe Gazzoni and Klas Ingesson, three fundamental pieces of that winning Bologna who are no longer with us today but who are very present in my heart."

After the feat in Bergamo you are no longer the last Bologna to have reached the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia.

"We were just waiting for the heirs. It means that there is a Bologna that twenty-six years later has done something really great."