The Emilian wall meets the Roman hurricane

Welcome to the Dall’Ara, where the smell of tortellini is currently being overpowered by the scent of European desperation. It is an all-Italian Round of 16 clash that nobody really asked for but we are all going to watch anyway because, well, it is Thursday and what else are you doing?

Bologna comes into this after swatting away Brann in the play-offs like a persistent summer fly. They finished tenth in the league phase and currently sit eighth in Serie A, which essentially means they are the definition of "doing okay." However, they haven’t conceded a goal in Europe since people still thought VR headsets were the future. FOUR straight clean sheets in the Europa League is impressive, or perhaps just a sign that their previous opponents couldn’t hit water if they fell out of a gondola. Riccardo Orsolini remains the only man in Italy who can make a mustache look both ironic and threatening at the same time.

Then we have AS Roma. Since Gian Piero Gasperini decided to bring his "everyone run until your lungs explode" philosophy to the capital, the Giallorossi have actually looked like a functional football team. Finishing eighth in the league phase earned them a direct ticket to this stage, sparing them the indignity of a play-off. They currently sit fourth in Serie A, largely because Paulo Dybala still possesses a left foot that belongs in the Louvre, while Evan Ferguson is busy proving that Irishmen can indeed thrive in the Roman sun.

The tactical battle will be a classic Italian standoff. Bologna will try to be organized and compact, while Roma will try to suffocate them with Gasperini’s trademark man-marking. It is basically going to be ninety minutes of twenty-two grown men following each other around the pitch like suspicious private investigators. Roma are the favorites, mostly because they have the depth and a talisman in Dybala who treats organized defenses as a mild suggestion rather than a rule.

Prediction: Bologna 0-2 AS Roma