Bologna coach Sinisa Mihajlovic on Monday hailed his team for pulling off a “miracle” to secure their top-flight survival with a 3-3 draw at SS Lazio, enough to keep the northerners in Serie A next season.
It was a vital point for Bologna who have been transformed since the arrival of Serbian coach Mihajlovic in place of Filippo Inzaghi, brother of Lazio coach Simone, in February.
“Nobody, or at least very few believed in us staying up a few months ago,” said Mihajlovic, a former Yugoslavia international. “I was one of the few. The more that time went by, the more convinced I was that we were on the right road, but it was still something of a small miracle.”
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The club were 18th with just two wins from 21 games when the former Serbia, AC Milan and Torino coach arrived, but since have won eight matches out of 16 and are now in 12th place.
“Now, we’re aiming to pull off a real masterstroke on Saturday [against SSC Napoli] to finish 10th,” he added.
Lazio are already through to next season’s UEFA Europa League after their Coppa Italia win over Atalanta BC on Wednesday last week in Rome, and have nothing left to play for as they sit eighth.
Bologna are four points ahead of Genoa who occupy the final relegation place with one game left to play this season.
AC Chievo Verona and Frosinone are already condemned to Serie B next season with four teams still under threat — Genoa, Empoli, Udinese and ACF Fiorentina.
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