Tenemos un claro favorito para el derbi de bronce Bolonia-Juve
Juventus have not lost to Bologna in 25 games. Let’s see if this streak can continue!
A strange end to a bittersweet season awaits Juventus, who, despite winning the Italian Cup on Wednesday, have hardly been characterised by euphoric fiesta in recent days. A horribly poor spring, a possible 5th place in the league and the sacking of Allegri all weigh heavily on the Old Lady, who visit Bologna. At stake is a possible bronze medal.
With Atalanta’s win on Saturday, they moved to within 1 point of the Juve-Bologna double, meaning the Bergamo side have a good chance of going ahead of the losing side. Of course, this is irrelevant for the BL places, but it is arguable that Bologna would shine much brighter than Torino in bronze.
Bologna, who have only lost twice at home this season, will also have Thiago Motta to thank for this year, as well as saying goodbye to their home crowd. The former midfielder is likely to coach Juventus next season, which will add a special piquancy to the 90 minutes.
Because Massimilano Allegri was sacked with immediate effect after the cup win. The veteran coach was officially sacked for disrespectful behaviour, while the club’s management was accused of hiring journalists to criticise him. So, despite the Coppa, Allegri was out of a job the very next day.
And in such a mood, it would be hard to have confidence in Juventus, who have won 2 of their last 15 league games and have not won away from home since 21 January.
His place will be taken temporarily by Primavera coach Paolo Montero, while although press reports suggest that a deal has been agreed with the 41-year-old manager, he has not yet commented further.
«Next week we will sit down with the board to discuss, my future is not the biggest issue for now. Nothing has been decided or signed yet, I would like to ask for everyone’s patience,» said Motta.
As indicated, we are surprised by the odds from the bookmakers, we don’t see many factors that would make the Old Lady worth bringing in. Zirkzee will be missing for the home side, but this Bologna is more of a team than an individual anyway.
In addition, Bologna are doing very well in the competition, beating Atalanta, Roma and Napoli since March, all away from home, with a total of 1 goal conceded. After that, we think they are a good chance against a demotivated and disjointed Juve.
Best free picks for Bologna-Juventus
Although there hasn’t been a Bologna win in 25 games with this line-up, it’s a completely different story now, with everything almost in favour of the red and blue. With an assured home success, we’d hazard a guess that Karlsson’s team won’t concede this time either, as they’ve come away with a clean sheet in six of their last eight league games, but a Zebra goal would still only give us our bets back, not a loss.