Everyone is Hoping for Bologna to Stop Inter Milan's Run

MILAN, SATURDAY — Bologna is the hope of the Scudetto contenders to suppress Inter Milan in the final match of Week 18 of the Italian League, Monday (January 5, 2026) at 2:00 a.m. WIB, at the San Siro Stadium. Based on their recent head-to-head record, "I Veltri" have the potential to be a troublesome guest for Inter, who are looking to return to the top of the standings.

Inter is looking ahead to the match against Bologna with the ambition to seize the top position in the standings from city rival AC Milan. This pressure arises after Milan secured three points with a 1-0 victory away at Cagliari on Saturday (3/1/2026 WIB).

Milan temporarily holds the title thanks to a two-point lead over Inter. Furthermore, Napoli also has the opportunity to make Inter start their match against Bologna in third place. Napoli must defeat Lazio on Sunday (January 4, 2026).

Inter has no other choice but to maintain their throne by defeating Bologna, who is sitting in seventh place. The two teams are 10 points apart in the current standings. However, "I Nerazzurri" cannot underestimate Bologna.

I Veltri has been a thorn in Inter's side for the past two seasons. In the last three encounters during 2025 against Bologna, including the semifinal of the Italian Super Cup on December 20, Inter has never managed to win.

We have to be in a very strong physical condition. We have to be ready to run more than in other matches.

The series of poor records against Bologna began on January 16, 2025, when Inter was held to a 2-2 draw by Bologna. Subsequently, they fell 0-1 at Bologna's home ground. Most recently, Bologna eliminated Inter in the Italian Super Cup thanks to a penalty shootout victory of 4-3 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. During regular time, both teams ended with a 1-1 draw.

Bologna has a dynamo that drives their impressive performance against Inter in the last three matches. He is the captain and winger, Ricardo Orsolini. The player trained by Cesena has produced two goals and one assist in the last three encounters against Inter. In fact, he is the sole goal scorer for I Veltri in the last two meetings.

Giovanni Fabbian, the attacking midfielder of Bologna, stated that matches against Inter always present a significant challenge for his team. Despite having a good record against I Nerazzurri, Fabbian mentioned that this will not affect anything in the match on Sunday night Italian time or early Monday morning WIB.

"We have to be in a very strong physical condition. We have to be ready to run more than in other matches," said Fabbian, a product of the Inter academy, as reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Sacrifice and hard work must be demonstrated by every player of I Veltri to bring home points from San Siro, while also ending their winless streak in the Italian League. Bologna has gone through four Italian League matches in December without achieving a positive result. Their last victory was when they defeated Udinese, 3-0, on November 22.

"We have to play with our heads held high. We have to keep trying to outperform Inter," said Bologna coach Vincenzo Italiano.

Italiano will not change his favored 4-2-3-1 formation to face Inter. He will only make slight adjustments, particularly to play deeper and release the desire to have more ball possession.

In this season's Italian League, Bologna is the fifth team with the most dominant average ball possession. They recorded 56.8 percent ball possession per match. This figure is only surpassed by Como (60 percent), Inter (59.2 percent), AS Roma (57.9 percent), and Atalanta (57.1 percent).

This was demonstrated by Bologna in two matches against Inter under Italiano's management. He consistently instructed his team not to compete with Inter in ball possession. Instead, Italiano asked his squad to run more diligently to close the spaces for Inter's ball flow.

Inter coach Cristian Chivu does not want his players to perform inconsistently in two halves against Bologna. An important lesson for Inter is their failure to maintain the lead in the last duel in Riyadh.