“La Grassa” (“fat man”) because of the unique pasta. “La Rossa” (“red”) because of its red roofs, but also because of the leftist beliefs of its residents. “La Dotta” (“artistic”) because of its university, which is the oldest in Europe. These three nicknames have been attributed to Bologna. In terms of football, the Italian city has been so closely linked to Greece over the years that La Greco doesn’t seem over the top.

After all, it was April 9, 2014, when Panagiotis Kone and Lazaros Christodoulopoulos were on the front page of “Gazzetta dello Sport” writing in capital letters “Hellas Bologna“. “Technically and tactically, they are different, but they can complement each other in attack,” the newspaper writes.

Excellent performances by two Greek footballers at the Italian club lifted him to the level of a year where he could look in the eyes of the big league teams.

In those days the motto of “Renato Dal’Ara” was “Helladara, Helladara” and the Greek duo was given and received praise.

OUR The Greek village has been reborn in Bologna for some time now, which has dressed nine Greek footballers in its colors in recent years. Today, not one, not two, but three Greek children fought back in an attempt to continue playing football away from the toxic climate that exists in our country. Rejoice and enjoy what they have chosen as a profession, but also hope for their development.

Babis Lykoyannis, who spent a whole decade in European stadiums (Sturm Graz, Cagliari), after four years in Sardinia in the shirt of Rosoblu Cagliari, joined Rosoblu Bologna since July last year, with the opportunity to still play in Serie A .

The left-footed defender had just two months to work with Sinisa Mihajlovic, who passed the baton to Thiago Motta in September to take on the uphill battle with cancer.

“It affected all of us. The shock was great among the team, ”said the Greek international, who lived at least a little of this great football uniform, to friends and acquaintances.

The start was not very good for Likoyannis, who had to be used even as a central defender.

The 29-year-old former Olympiacos player wanted support and found it in his good friend and national teammate Giorgos Kyriakopoulos, who was loaned from Sassuolo on the final day of the winter transfers. During his 3.5 years at Sassuolo, the left-back of the Patrinos national team managed to sharply increase his value in the stock market. “I came to Bologna to help them get to Europe” were his first words when the club’s management agreed to a purchase option with Sassuolo if they were satisfied with his offer.

Lykoyannis and Kyriakopoulos have doubled each other on the team’s left flank, but they also have to compete with 23-year-old Italian Andre Campiaso, who was signed on loan from Juventus over the summer and recently won the starting position.

✍️ | 𝐔𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋𝐄#Lykoyannis he is a new player from Bologna ❤️💙

𝐁𝐧𝐶𝐮𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐨 🇬🇷🤗#ForzaBFC #We are one pic.twitter.com/15aomfaeRl

— Bologna FC 1909 (@Bolognafc1909) July 1, 2022

🇬🇷😁👍#ForzaBFC #We are one pic.twitter.com/wvC06PPyU8

— Bologna FC 1909 (@Bolognafc1909) February 1, 2023

16 year old…star

A few days ago, Lykoyannis and Kyriakopoulos also took under their protection a rising talent whose family decided early on to settle for a different future.

16-year-old Corinthios Thodoris Tsiugaris, playing in the Asteras Tripoli academies, watched George Kyriakopoulos, his development and transition to the Championship. So, at just 12 years old, he gave his all. A centre-back, Pitzirika moved quickly to smaller Arcadiki PAE teams as well as smaller national teams. With the help of former Olympiacos aces and current agents Predrag Djordjevic and Andreas Niniadis, he made his dream come true in early February. Bologna leased him from Asteras, adding him to the K-17 team after being satisfied with the tests he passed.

The Greek community in Bologna grew and maintained the tradition that it had good years when it included Greeks. Let’s remember them…

Thodoris Zagorakis (2004-05)

The captain of the national team at the “golden” Euro 2004 was the one who opened the way for the Greek footballers to Bologna. His performances in Portugal impressed the Italians, who gave him a lucrative contract. At 34, he played a full season, making 34 appearances in all competitions, but decided to return to Greece in the summer and end his career at his beloved PAOK.

Vangelis Moras (2007-11)

The Greek centre-back, after an excellent four years at AEK, decided not to renew his contract with the Union, as he was not in the plans of Lorenzo Serra Ferrer, whom he described as a “coach dictator”.

He decided to try his luck in a neighboring country, which one? Bologna. His first goal was the league winner against Napoli: by the time he joined Swansea he had made a total of 104 appearances and scored 4 goals.

Panagiotis Kone (2011-14)

Like Zagorakis and Moras, Kone played in AEK, but ended up in Bologna from Brescia after he had already moved to Italy. His outstanding season at Brescia first landed him at Rossobleu on loan for one year before staying for another two years, making 59 appearances and scoring 11 goals. Combined with his performances in the 2014 World Cup, his value skyrocketed, leading to his transfer to Udinese for €5 million.

Lazaros Christodoulopoulos (2013-14)

In January 2013, Panathinaikos decided to release Lazaros Christodoulopoulos as a free agent. Lazaros moved to Bologna and succeeded in 1.5 years, showing excellent performances. He left for Verona where he found Vangelis Mora as a teammate, playing a total of 39 matches and scoring 3 goals.

Marios Economou (2014-17)

He left PAS Iannina in 2013 and moved to Cagliari as the national team’s next centre-back. But there he counted only one participation, so it was logical to try his luck in … Greek Bologna. And it turned out he was doing well: he made 71 appearances and scored 4 goals before being loaned out to Spalu and Bari before returning to Greece and AEK.

Vassilis Torosidis (2016-18)

After spending a full three years in the Roma jersey, the Greek right-hander signed a two-year contract with Bologna on August 31, 2016, with an option for a third year. He recorded 28 games and scored one goal. He then returned to Olympiacos to end his career.