Sinisa Mihajlovic wants to see more ‘courage and risk-taking’ from Bologna after their 2-0 defeat to Juventus and explains his philosophy in the first post-match interview since his leukaemia diagnosis.
This was their first match back since the lockdown, whereas Juve had already played two Coppa Italia fixtures.
Sinisa Mihajlovic wants to see more ‘courage and risk-taking’ from Bologna after their 2-0 defeat to Juventus and explains his philosophy in the first post-match interview since his leukaemia diagnosis.
This was their first match back since the lockdown, whereas Juve had already played two Coppa Italia fixtures.
“Finally, we got to play football, even if we lost. We knew Juve would come here fired up, as it’s almost impossible for them to get three consecutive performances wrong,” the coach told Sky Sport Italia.
“Unfortunately, it all became more difficult after the penalty. We tried to pounce when they were starting to run down in the final 20 minutes, but weren’t as dangerous as I would’ve liked.
“My lads played the game they had to play, in the circumstances. We lacked some courage, some quality, but we tried and knew it was going to be difficult. Even if we get it wrong and lose the ball, I’d prefer us to be more courageous and take the risks.
“This is the mentality with which we secured safety last season and the mentality I want to see. I know it has the risk of losing more than drawing, but when we are up against teams on our level, we can steamroller them.
“We’re always going to concede against these big clubs, so we may as well try to hurt them too.”
The deadlock was broken by a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty, awarded via VAR for a Stefano Denswil shirt-tug on Matthijs de Ligt, then Paulo Dybala curled in a sensational strike.
“There is always pushing and pulling on a corner. It’s a pity that I had to wait for Juve to find a referee who takes that sort of thing seriously, because we’ve seen too much of it lately.
“I expect more from the players who come off the bench, as they too can be decisive. We’ve only had two goals off the bench this season and need to do better.”
This was Mihajlovic’s first post-match interview in over a year, since he was diagnosed with acute leukaemia in July 2019.
“Fear is natural, but the important thing is to be stronger than fear, to push it back and keep going. That is my attitude to life.
“When a man knows himself, he can face a disaster and be ready to get back on his feet. The doctors did a wonderful job, fortunately I was also already in good shape physically as I never stopped training, and I had a strong mentality that helped me to get through it.
“With this illness, I have learned the art of patience, as that was really not my strong suit… These normal everyday things I practically didn’t notice before, they have become special. You become more reflective, but I also feel everything with more intensity, both joy and anger.”