If someone had said that Giovanni Sartori would bring Chievo Verona, Atalanta and Bologna to the Champions League, they would surely have taken him for a boaster, at best. A madman, in perhaps the most accredited one. Given how all three of his adventures had begun, there was no room to believe in it: on the one hand as a manager in the minor leagues, then with the Nerazzurri who had just saved themselves the year before with Raja, then – despite the qualifications in Europa League and Champions League – he had to start again from a Bologna team forced into anonymous years. In two years he went from safety to the Champions League but, compared to what he did in Bergamo, he didn’t have time to get to a certain level.
For this reason, Bologna’s transfer market this summer was not the best compared to Sartori’s. Forced to make a virtue of necessity, to sell Zirkzee and Calafiori to replace them with Dallinga and Casale, who have been disappointing so far. Or Pobega in midfield, not yet in great shape. One could argue that even with Atalanta, after the first Champions League qualification, there were adjustment problems. But the group was already built to last, even with one or two high-level sales.
Bologna had everything right away, like one of the most beautiful fairy tales. Now, however, Europe is paying the bill simply because it takes years to try to reach a certain level and, despite everything, it is unthinkable that all the donuts will end up with a hole. Even Sartori sometimes makes mistakes when substituting players. Even if the good horses are only seen upon arrival, and for Bologna there is still more than half the championship (and the hope of turning the season around in Europe, even if it won’t be easy).