A lot of water, a penalty saved, no goals: Bologna starts Champions League with a point

Champions League, Bologna-Shakhtar 0-0

Bologna's return to the top continental competition sixty years after its only participation in the Champions Cup ends with a draw, the fourth out of the five matches of the season played by the Felsinei considering also the championship: at the Dall'Ara the Rossoblù of Vincenzo Italiano make it 0-0 against Shakhtar, in a match characterized by several moments of heavy rain.

The debut in the Champions League 2024/25 actually seemed to start rather badly for Bologna: after just two laps of the clock Posch landed Eguinaldo in the box, but Sudakov went to the penalty spot and was hypnotized by Skorupski. The score remains at 0-0. The first half è broken up, the Ukrainians have to give up Sikan and Konoplya due to injuries (in their place Newerton and Tobias), and the only real excitement comes in the seventh of the 8' of recovery time, when Castro has the ball of the lead at his disposal a few meters from the goal but kicks it over Riznyk.

In the second half, the Rossobl&#ugrave; continued to raise the tempo, Fabbian went close to scoring at 52' but again Riznyk denied the joy of goal for the home team. Italiano revolutionizes the team: in from 65' Iling Junior, Pobega and Dallinga for Orsolini, Moro, Castro, from 78' Urbanski and Miranda in place of Fabbian and Lykogiannis.

On the other side there are, for the last 10'più recovery, Stepanenko, Marlon Gomes and Traoré in place of Bondarenko, Sudakov and Zubkov. The general rhythm returns forò low and not even 5' of recovery bring changes to the scoreboard, which after the referee's three whistles finally brings back the 0-0 at the beginning of the match. A point apiece for both, then: the next commitment of the Felsinei è on October 2, at Anfield against Liverpool, which on Tuesday evening defeated Milan 3-1.

In the other late afternoon match, Sparta Prague’s clear-cut win over Salzburg: Kairinen on 2', Olatunji on 42' and Laci on 58' put their signatures on the Czechs’ success, who start the 36-team single round on the right foot, which will conclude after all participants have played eight matches, four at home and as many away.