Empoli, this is really bad. Bologna is too strong. Azzurri knocked out in the first round. Now a miracle will be needed

A completely blue lower Maratona with thousands of flags waving between the club's coat of arms, the Collegiata, symbol of the city and the cockade of the Italian Cup, surmounted by the banner "In love with these colours... proud to be from Empoli". The fans of theEmpoli they could not fail to honor the historic semifinal reached by the Azzurri with a choreography worthy of the occasion, but on the pitch there is too much Bologna. D'Aversa, as anticipated, gives space to the youngsters, to those who have played less in the championship and to those who have now returned from long injuries, designing a sort of 4-4-2 with Tosto in the centre, Cacace low on the left on Orsolini, Gyasi and Fazzini on the wings and Colombo and Solbakken closer up front.

But this time the choice doesn't pay off. The Bologna, in its standard formation, is the absolute master of the field, with a well-tested game, and after a great opportunity wasted by Orsolini in the 2nd minute, it effectively closes the matter in the space of six minutes between the 23rd and 29th minute: first Tosto and Cacace both close in on Dallinga in the center of the area, leaving Orsolini completely alone at the far post who nets Odgaard's cross from the left, then a through ball by Ndoye finds Dallinga in the area, control and outside of the right foot to fool Seghetti again. In both circumstances, however, Empoli's defensive attitude was too passive.

The Azzurri struggle tremendously to bring the ball into the offensive half of the pitch, except for a few sporadic forays by Colombo and Solbakken. In the 40th minute, Skorupski does well to deflect the Norwegian's diagonal shot into a corner, but the referee doesn't notice. In the second half, D'Aversa increases his experience on the pitch by inserting Sambia on the right and Pezzella in defense, but the music doesn't change.

After the first real offensive action by the Azzurri wasted by Sambia when serving Gyasi, the Felsinei punished a defense that was 'light' to say the least with a brace from Dalliga, served by Ndoye. If nothing else, however, in the second half the Azzurri showed something more, in the 61st minute Gyasi came very close to closing the gap, but too little to seriously worry the rossoblù who could run riot in the final minutes. The 3-0 effectively makes the return match in Bologna in 23 days superfluous, but the important thing now at Empoli is to reset everything, because on Sunday against Cagliari there are important points at stake for salvation.

Simone Cioni