Thiago Motta was a serial winner as a player. He’s making the same impact as the coach at Bologna

ROME (AP) — Wherever Thiago Motta went as a player, he won trophy after trophy after trophy.

After an injury-prone but winning start at Barcelona, he won a treble at Inter Milan and followed with a big haul of domestic titles at Paris Saint-Germain.

Praised for his versatility and dedication in midfield, Motta brings the same intensity to his coaching career and his impact this season at Bologna has been beyond expectations.

A perennial mid-table finisher, Bologna is up to fourth in Serie A and in position to qualify for the Champions League.

Motta defeated his mentor from his days at Inter when Bologna beat Jose Mourinho’s Roma last weekend. Then on Wednesday, Bologna produced a 2-1 extra-time win over two-time defending champion Inter in the Italian Cup round of 16.

Dutch forward Joshua Zirkzee was the catalyst for the comeback victory at the San Siro, first providing a flying backheel assist for Sam Beukema in the 112th minute and then using a nutmeg to get by defender Francesco Acerbi and send Dan Ndoye alone on goal four minutes later for the winner.

It was the second time this season that Bologna and Zirkzee produced a highlight at Inter, the Serie A leader.

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Zirkzee equalized when Bologna came back from two goals down for a 2-2 draw against the Nerazzurri in October.

So it’s no wonder why Bayern Munich included a buy-back clause when it sold Zirkzee to Bologna last year.

“Zirkzee has great potential and it’s now vital for his development that he plays regularly,” former Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic said when the deal was announced. “The agreement includes a buy-back clause because Joshua remains a very interesting player for us.”

Midfielder Giovanni Fabbian is another young player making an impact under Motta. He, too, has a buy-back clause in his contract after coming through Inter’s youth system.

Then there’s attacking midfielder Lewis Ferguson, the highest scoring Scottish player in the Italian league in more than 60 years.

“It’s a great moment but the compliments go to the players,” Motta said. “It’s taken a lot of work to get to this point. … We’ve done some extraordinary things but we’re still only halfway through the season.”

Bologna also drew at Juventus 1-1 in August and held defending champion Napoli to a scoreless draw in September.

Motta stepped into a difficult situation at Bologna when he was hired to replace the fired Sinisa Mihajlovic shortly after the start of last season. Mihajlovic, who died a few months later after a long battle with leukemia, created a special bond with his players, who often celebrated victories under the coach’s hospital room window when Mihajlovic was being treated.

Bologna finished ninth last season and is making the type of progress that Canadian executive Joe Saputo envisioned when he purchased the club nearly a decade ago.

While Bologna is a seven-time Serie A champion, the Emilia-Romagna club last won triumphed in 1964.

Saputo has also been making progress with the city on an innovative plan to renovate the nearly century-old Stadio Dall’Ara. The design calls for modern tribunes around the stadium’s characteristic Torre di Maratona.

While work is yet to begin, the goal is to have the renovated stadium ready for the facility’s 100-year anniversary in 2027.

First, though, there’s a a match against seventh-placed Atalanta on Saturday.

“We need to rest and recuperate,” Motta said, “and then focus on the game against Atalanta.”

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/Soccer