Who are Bologna’s Serie A opponents Crotone?

Crotone are the third Calabrian club to play in Serie A after Catanzaro and Reggina and their first ever match at this level will take place at the Stadio Dall’Ara on Sunday. Crotone are dreaming of establishing themselves in the top flight after an enthralling charge to promotion from Serie B but it seems to be a tall order having lost manager Juric to Genoa.

Davide Nicola will instead take the reins after an unhappy spell with Bari and he is set to manage a young and motivated squad that will nevertheless now have to do without influential attacking midfielders Modesto, Balasa and Yao and above all promotion-winning centre forward Ante Budimir. The Rossoblu will have to be aware, however, of Budimir’s replacement Simy. The giant Nigerian stands over 6 and a half feet tall and his ungainly yet powerful style has seen him win the Golden Boot in the Portuguese second division. He will be joined in attack by wingers Palladino, Tonev and Stoian as Crotone’s commitment to attacking football remains undiminished, but this offensive outlook does lead to question marks over the solidity of the central-midfield pairing of the workhorse Swede Rohden and the accomplished Capezzi. The Calabrians play with a back three which is still awaiting reinforcements although they can rely on their Brazilian captain Claitan who has an impressive pedigree in Bologna. He won the Scudetto for his age group with Stefano Pioli’s Bologna Allievi side in 2001.