Still unbeaten in 2025, Bologna will try to follow up their first-ever Champions League win when they visit Serie A strugglers Empoli on Saturday.

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Having suffered four defeats from their first six games, putting only two points on the board, Bologna finally tasted success on Tuesday night, when they struck twice in the second half to defeat Dortmund.

The Emilian club's first crack at UEFA's top competition since the mid-1960s had brought more misery than joy, but fringe players Thijs Dallinga and Samuel Iling-Junior both made the most of their opportunity after leaving the bench.

Their goals secured a 2-1 win at Stadio Dall'Ara, yet Bologna's slow start means they will still be eliminated when the league phase culminates next week.

That result also extended an unbeaten start to the year for Vincenzo Italiano's men, who ran out 3-1 winners against Monza in their most recent league fixture, keeping them seventh in the Serie A standings - just ahead of AC Milan and Roma.

A tally of 33 points from their first 20 matches is not only one more than at this stage last season - when they ultimately went on to finish fifth - but also represents a new club best since the turn of the century.

Furthermore, their 32 league goals are the most accrued at this point of a top-flight campaign for nearly 60 years, and Italiano has clearly built on the foundations laid by former coach Thiago Motta.

Before heading to Tuscany this weekend, the Rossoblu are also unbeaten in three games against Empoli, including a dramatic 1-0 win on their last trip to Stadio Castellani.

A 94th-minute gut-punch resulted in Empoli's sole loss to Bologna in 10 Serie A home fixtures, following five wins and four draws, so history is still very much on their side.

Recent form is certainly not, though, as the Azzurri have lost five of their last six league matches - as many defeats as they had suffered across the previous 19 - leaving them dangerously close to the drop zone.

Davide Nicola's men always had their work cut out to topple mighty Inter Milan last week, and despite in-form forward Sebastiano Esposito scoring against his parent club, they duly fell to a 3-1 defeat.

Previously, losing by the same scoreline to fellow strugglers Lecce continued their dismal home record this season: at the Castellani, Empoli have posted just one win and seven points so far.

Another setback on Saturday would see them record four consecutive home defeats for the first time in their Serie A history, so Nicola will be intent on stopping the rot.

Empoli possible starting lineup:

Vasquez; Goglichidze, Ismajli, Viti; Gyasi, Grassi, Maleh, Pezzella; Fazzini, Esposito; Colombo

Bologna possible starting lineup:

Skorupski; Holm, Lucumi, Beukema, Miranda; Pobega, Freuler; Ndoye, Odgaard, Dominguez; Castro