Article by Daniel Scorpie – Published on Wednesday, 22 October 2025 20:22 / Updated on Wednesday, 22 October 2025 23:05
Bologna played in Italy twice against opponents from Romania. Before the Renato dall'Ara tour of the 1998-1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup played by FC Național (0-2), Steaua faced the Emilian team in a summer “Pescara Cup” tournament, where they finished in fourth place.
It was the final period of the last preseason before the fall of Nicolae Ceaușescu's regime, three weeks earlier than Steaua's historic failure in the derby against eternal rival Dinamo (0-3) in Ghencea. The Romanian red-blues were invited to participate in a quadrangle in Pescara, where the local team, Bologna and Nacional Montevideo played.
Image with Gică Hagi in the Stela jersey in the Pescara Cup from August 1989 / Photo: Facebook Star history
Bologna prevailed in the semi-final against Stella, at the “Adriatico” stadium with 1-0, thanks to the goal scored by Lorenzo in the 51st minute. So the team from Ghencea played in the small final, against the team from Uruguay. In turn, Pescara clearly outclassed, score 1-5.
1FCSB's last 15 wins (5 losses and 9 draws) against Italian clubs in European competitions: 1-0 against Lazio in the Europa League in February 2018
Bologna lost in 1998 in Bucharest against FC Național (1-3)
And he placed fourth, with an identical failure. As the Stellar History notes, “it was a final summer in which the Star participated in various international tournaments.”
The Bologna team that Steaua faced in 1989 / Photo: Wikipedia
Bologna would win the Pescara Cup, after 0-0 and 4-2 on penalties in the final with the home team.
Bologna also visited the capital of Romania in the summer of 1998, more precisely on July 25, in the third round of the UEFA Intertoto Cup. His opponent was FC National in Cotroceni. It was 3-1 for “progressives” (Pigulea 28', 71', Pârlog 45' – Kolyvanov 15),
In the return scheduled for Renato dall'Ara, the Italians got their revenge, score 2-0 (Paramatti 4', Ingesson 38') and qualified further thanks to the away goal. In fact, the rossoblu formation would and win the competition, along with Valencia and Werder Bremen.
Tape of the match FC Național – Bologna 3-1 in the UEFA Intertoto Cup
With only one point in two matches in the Europa League group, Bologna comes to the duel with FCSB with a negative statistic. They haven't won in their last seven away games (W2 L5) in European competition, scoring just three goals since a 3-0 UEFA Cup win against Zenit in September 1999.
