Liverpool midfielder and World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister admits that he isn’t too familiar with the current Bologna side ahead of their meeting in the Champions League on Wednesday night, but revealed that Juventus winger and international colleague Nico Gonzalez has provided insight on Rossoblu coach Vincenzo Italiano.
Italiano and Nico Gonzalez spent three seasons working together at Fiorentina before 2021 and 2024.
They both went their separate ways over the summer, as Italiano replaced Thiago Motta as head coach of Bologna, while Nico Gonzalez joined Juventus in a deal potentially worth upwards of €40m towards the end of the summer transfer window.
Nico Gonzalez provides Liverpool with Italiano insight
The new Bianconeri winger was able to tell his Argentina teammate Mac Allister what to expect from an Italiano-led side.
“To be completely honest, I haven’t watched the games of Bologna this year. I know the manager from his time at Fiorentina because I have a very good friend, Nicolas Gonzalez, who played under him, so I know more or less what he wants from his team,” Mac Allister said during his pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
“I am pretty sure it will be a very tough game. I think we expect the game to be quite physical, so we have prepared for it really well and hopefully tomorrow we can show what we prepared.”
Liverpool will host Bologna at Anfield for the second round of league phase fixtures taking place in the Champions League over the course of the next two days.
Liverpool rose to a 3-1 victory against Milan in San Siro two weeks ago, while Bologna were held to a 0-0 draw on home soil by Shakhtar Donetsk.