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Renaissance under the Two Towers
Daniele Fisichella - 14th November 2025
In the era when calcio dominated abroad and, as Italians proudly say, "we were the Premier League," one could be forgiven for not remembering Bologna.
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When James Richardson hosted the gem of a broadcast that was 'Gazzetta Football Italia', the team from the capital of Emilia-Romagna was not among those competing in the "most beautiful league in the world."
At the start of the 1990s, Bologna could have been described, to borrow a term dear to British sports literature, as a "sleeping giant." Relegated to Serie B following the Italia '90 World Cup, the club was declared bankrupt and sank into Italy's third division a couple of years later.
The climb back was slow and arduous. ​More falls and disastrous club management followed in the early 2000s, even as Italian football reached another peak at the World Cup in Germany.
A seven-time Serie A champion, Bologna remains one of Italy's most prestigious teams. Its legend is a story that fades into the past, among the yellowed pages of newspapers that no longer exist. Black and white photographs and memories of a
country, Italy, and the entire world that lived through an era of change, tensions, and conflicts.
In the history pages of Fascist-era Italy, there is also the chapter of Bologna, a club founded in the early 20th century, whose story and successes are themselves a small anthology of the nation and its most popular sport.
Bologna, which won its first national title in 1925, also holds the unique record of having won the championship after a playoff.
It was 1964, and Inter, which would soon be crowned European Champion by defeating Real Madrid with Alfredo Di Stefano, Ferenc Puskás, and Paco Gento, was dueling with Bologna for the Serie A title.
The Rossoblù were a team known for their exhilarating play, led by the young Giacomo Bulgarelli, a technical and athletic midfielder born just a few kilometers from Emilia-Romagna's capital, who dedicated his entire life to Bologna.
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In attack was Ezio Pascutti, who played 296 games in a red and blue jersey. A fearless forward, an opportunist. He is captured in one of the iconic photos of Italian football in the 1960s: a diving header to meet the ball, beating Tarcisio Burgnich, right-back of the 'Grande Inter’, diving alongside him.
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In March of that year, Bologna was docked three points when five of its players, including Pascutti, tested positive for anti-doping, results later overturned by counter-analysis, restoring Bologna’s points in the standings. Inter and the Rossoblù were now level, requiring a playoff held in Rome. The match on June 7, 1964, was the last national title won by Bologna.
“Lo squadrone che tremare il mondo fa.” They were the team that made the world tremble. Indeed, this is how the Felsinei club was known well before the 1960s.
Between 1935 and 1939, Bologna won four national championships, narrowly missing out in the 1940/41 season only on the last day against Ambrosiana (a nameenforced by the fascist regime of that era) - Inter. The following season, however, Bologna took its revenge.
The early Scudetti of this golden era were orchestrated by then-manager Àrpad Weisz, a proponent of the Danubian school of football, a pioneer in both tactical approaches and physical preparation.
Under his guidance, Bologna won the prestigious Paris Expo Tournament in 1937,defeating those considered the 'masters'—the English. The 4-1 victory over Chelsea was the first for an Italian team against an English side on an international stage.
Jewish, Weisz was forced to leave Italy in 1938 due to racial laws. He died at Auschwitz in January 1944, at the age of 47. A plaque commemorates him under the Maratona Tower at the Renato Dall’Ara Stadium, and the San Luca curva in the stadium is dedicated to him.​​​
The stadium can be admired from the steps under the porticoes leading up to the Sanctuary of San Luca, a pilgrimage site and one of the city's symbols.
The more recent history of Bologna speaks of great champions, from Roberto Baggio to Giuseppe Signori, who ignited the hearts of fans.
From a near miss with the UEFA Cup final in 1999 to a Champions League qualification secured just two years ago, Bologna, the city with the world's oldest university, is today also a "university of football," as former Milan and national coach Arrigo Sacchi once noted.
Under Thiago Motta initially, and for the past two seasons with Vincenzo Italiano, the Rossoblù have been undoubtedly among the most entertaining and sophisticated teams to watch in Serie A. A new golden era for Bologna, one deserving to be experienced live.
Daniele is a sports journalist who regularly appears on talkSPORT and UEFA.com to provide insight on the latest developments in Italian football. He is also the expert guide on our tour - 'Bologna, Florence & the Azzurri'