Serie A | Gameweek 38

May 24, 2025 at 5pm UK

Stadio Renato Dall'Ara

Bologna vs Genoa

Match preview

Having already secured a place in the Europa League after beating AC Milan in the Coppa Italia final, Bologna can approach the final game of this season's Serie A campaign without the pressure of finishing in the top six.

Although three points separate Vincenzo Italiano's team from Lazio in sixth place, the Emilia-Romagna outfit would need the capital club to lose on the final day and seventh-placed Fiorentina to drop points in order to finish in sixth place.

However, their victory over Milan last week in the domestic cup has secured them a Europa League spot for next season, so the Rossoblu are not under pressure to win this weekend.

Nevertheless, the Red and Blues will be aiming to avoid a third consecutive league defeat after losing 3-1 to AC Milan and 3-2 to Fiorentina, having not suffered as many losses since January 2022, when they were defeated by Cagliari (2-1), Napoli (2-0) and Hellas Verona (2-1).

The home side's ambition is further fuelled by a desire to better a run of just one victory in 11 meetings against Genoa since their 2-0 win in February 2018, which marked consecutive victories over the Grifone.

The travelling fans will head to the Renato Dall'Ara Stadium knowing that they are on a five-match unbeaten run in Emilia-Romagna, having secured two wins and three draws in their previous five visits.

It will be interesting to see if Patrick Vieira's team can put in a different performance to extend their admirable run against the Emilians. They head into the final day of the season having picked up just two points from a possible 18 in Serie A, suffering four defeats in that period.

Having failed to score in the draw with Verona, and suffered defeats at the hands of Lazio and the in-form Como, the Grifone have been let down by their inability to keep games tight. This was evident in their most recent losses to Milan (2–1) and Atalanta BC (3–2), against whom they were leading 1–0 and 2–1 respectively before suffering disappointing defeats.

Eager to end their six-match winless streak, Vieira's team, who have not won away since beating Empoli 2-1 on 28 December, will be looking to extend Bologna's wait for a win whenever this fixture is held on their turf.

While Bologna could still rise or fall in the standings, Saturday's game has little consequence for Genoa. They are certain to finish in 13th place, as 12th-placed Udinese are four points ahead and Cagliari are four points behind in 14th place.

Recent Performance

Bologna Serie A form:LWDDLL

Bologna form (all competitions):WDDLWL

Genoa Serie A form:DLLLDL

Team News

Juan Miranda is suspended for Bologna following his sending-off for violent conduct against Fiorentina, while Jens Odgaard and Martin Erlic are expected to miss out due to injury.

Heading into the final day, Riccardo Orsolini has netted 14 Serie A goals, with the wide attacker scoring five match-winning strikes — only three players have scored more decisive goals — and he aims to add to this tally this weekend.

In contrast to Bologna, Genoa have several players facing fitness concerns, including Maxwel Cornet, Alan Matturro, Fabio Miretti, Honest Ahanor and Ruslan Malinovskyi.

Andrea Pinamonti is the away side's top scorer, but only four of his 10 goals have come away from home this term.

Possible starting lineup

Bologna possible starting lineup:

Skorupski; Holm, Beukema, Lucumi, Lykogiannis; Ferguson, Freuler; Orsolini, Fabbian, Ndoye; Castro

Genoa possible starting lineup:

Siegrist; Sabelli, De Winter, Otoa, Martin; Norton-Cuffy, Frendrup, Masini, Thorsby; Vitinha, Pinamonti