Di Vaio: ‘Bologna competitive with Juventus’ despite no victory since 2011

Bologna director Marco Di Vaio feels they can ‘have our say’ against Juventus and hopes he’ll finally shrug off a shocking Serie A statistic tonight.

It kicks off at the Stadio Dall’Ara at 19.45 GMT.

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from today’s five Serie A games on the Liveblog.

This is a face-off for European places, because the Rossoblu are currently two points above the Old Lady in the table and would like to take advantage of a general slowdown in the top spots this weekend.

“We have for over two years been doing very well, so the lads and all of us know that we can have our say,” Di Vaio told DAZN Italia.

“Every game is different, Juve have great players, but we are well aware that we’re competitive and can play our game too.”

An extraordinary statistic is that Bologna have not beaten Juventus in all competition since February 2011, a 2-0 result in Turin decided by a Di Vaio brace.

They haven’t defeated Juve at the Stadio Dall’Ara since a 3-0 result in November 1998.

“I was just telling my daughter in the car on the way here that I am so tired of being told that I was the last Bologna player to score a winner against Juventus,” confessed Di Vaio.

“I look forward to someone else taking my place in that statistic, because it’s been too long. We had great results in recent years beating just about all the big clubs, but not Juventus yet.”

The team slowed down in Serie A recently, with a defeat to Cremonese and draw against 10-man Lazio, but boosted morale with Thursday’s comeback victory away to Celta Vigo in the Europa League.

Federico Bernardeschi scored twice in Spain and he represents a different kind of player to the young and promising prospects that Bologna had focused on before.

“Last season we were in the Champions League and realised we were lacking something in terms of experience at that level, so we approached both Federico and Ciro Immobile too, making the most of their situations to bring them here.

“Having players who starred and won at the highest level was something we had been lacking, as that influences the others,” explained Di Vaio.