English
Español
Bologna sporting director Marco Di Vaio admits that he would have ‘preferred to avoid’ an all-Italian draw in the Europa League round of 16, especially against Roma, whom he claims are ‘one of the best sides in Italy’.
Roma and Bologna have been drawn against each other in the Europa League round of 16 following the knock-out stage draw, which took place at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday.
You can see how the draw unfolded on the Football Italia Liveblog.
Di Vaio reacts to Bologna vs. Roma draw
Europa League trophy (Photo by NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP) (Photo by NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP via Getty Images)
Roma and Bologna are the only two Italian sides competing in the Europa League in 2025-26, and now, only one will qualify for the quarter-finals in April.
Reporters in Switzerland were excited by the prospect of an all-Italian round of 16 draw, which is already being billed as an exciting tie for the neutral, but Di Vaio insists that he would have preferred to face a non-Italian side in the next round.
“Roma are a great team, but we’ll lose a bit of European ‘flavour’,” Di Vaio told Sky Sport Italia after the draw.
“As a player, I played in an (all-Italian) final with Juventus. We would have preferred to avoid it for a lot of reasons, including the emotional aspect. We’ll prepare well. It would have been a great challenge against Freiburg as well. We’ll see what happens.”
Di Vaio believes that Roma are one of the strongest sides in Italy, but he also believes that Bologna are in a good place to face the challenge after overcoming a troubling run of form over the new-year period.
ROME, ITALY – AUGUST 23: Players, match officials and mascots line up prior to the Serie A match between AS Roma and Bologna FC 1909 at Stadio Olimpico on August 23, 2025 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images)
“We’re recovering after a tough period, especially in terms of results. We care a lot about the Europa League, we know it can bring us a big boost. Up until now, we’ve had a very good tournament, the last games against Brann were played really well.
“Now we have to face one of the best sides in Italy, who have a lot of enthusiasm and have found that striker they were missing. Having said that, we know that we are a difficult team to face, too.”