Remembering Hearts' epic European tie with Bologna 30 years later

Hearts 3, Bologna 1. Wednesday, October 24; Bologna 3, Hearts 0. Wednesday, November 7.
Bologna's Rosario Biondo (left) challenges for the ball with Wayne Foster. Picture: SNSBologna's Rosario Biondo (left) challenges for the ball with Wayne Foster. Picture: SNS
Bologna's Rosario Biondo (left) challenges for the ball with Wayne Foster. Picture: SNS

It’s typically lamented by ex-professionals of the era that managers in the present day are no longer afforded the time to get things right. They especially linger on the ridiculousness of giving the coach a summer to construct his squad and then sack him after just a few weeks. But this was exactly what happened at Tynecastle in September 1990. Alex MacDonald – the man who had once taken the club within seven minutes of the title and within the width of a post to the Uefa Cup semis – was binned by chairman Wallace Mercer just three winless games into the 1990-91 campaign.

Joe Jordan was rescued as the man to re-energise the club but it would be a while before a turnaround occurred. The former Scotland striker won just four of his first 14 league games – though he could at least boast to having defeated Aberdeen, Celtic and Dundee United, three teams who would ultimately finish ahead of Hearts, and Edinburgh rivals Hibs – before things began to improve and would ultimately gather the momentum to help them finish runners-up in the Scottish Premier Division the following year.

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Having finished in the top three in three of the previous five seasons, in an era where the title wasn’t just dominated by two clubs, the Gorgie Road side had entered 90-91 with aspirations of making another push at becoming champions for the first time since 1960. Instead, the campaign quickly looked like something of a write off; a transition year where a new manager could see what he was working with and make the necessary adjustments.

There was still the welcomed distraction, however, of European football. Two seasons earlier Hearts had come agonisingly close to a place in the final four of one of Uefa’s three premier European competitions, but after defeating Bayern Munich 1-0 at Tynecastle they lost 2-0 in Germany, with the aforementioned striking of the woodwork by John Colquhoun a real ‘what could have been’ moment with Napoli and Diego Maradona a potential opponent in the semis. Another charge into the latter rounds wasn’t out of the question.

After navigating a tricky opening round tie against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk with a 4-2 aggregate victory, Jordan’s side were drawn against Italian club Bologna. I Rossoblù had finished eighth in Serie A the previous campaign but managed to gain entry in the Uefa Cup due to two additional European places being available to Italian sides after the success of Milan in the European Cup and Sampdoria in the Cup Winners’ Cup the term prior. Facing a Serie A side has always been a daunting task, but Hearts were further heartened by Bologna’s dreadful start to their season. They sat bottom at the time of the first leg in Tynecastle and, indeed, would be relegated to Serie B after failing to recover across the duration of the campaign.

There was the blow of losing John Robertson in the build-up to the first meeting in Edinburgh. The striker failed a late fitness test and would be replaced by Wayne Foster. Not that it mattered all that much. The pacey Englishman, though famous for one goal in particular, wasn’t a regular scorer in the Robertson mould during his time with the club, but you wouldn’t have known it from the opening 23 minutes.

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Dummying an Eamonn Bannon free-kick, Foster skipped behind the defence and sent an angled left-foot shot beyond Nello Cusin after Iain Ferguson had played him in. The Bologna defence was all over the place and Foster took advantage to quickly put his side 2-0 up. A low cross from Dave McPherson was fluffed by David Kirkwood but broke for Colquhoun. His cross found Foster all alone in the six-yard box to send a weak header in off Cusin's left-hand post.

Hearts were ruthlessly dissecting their opponents and had their third seven minutes before the break. This time it was Ferguson who breached Cusin’s goal, scoring at the second attempt after the goalkeeper had initially managed to turn his header from a Bannon cross onto the bar.

The seeds of the home side’s eventual collapse and exit from the tournament were sown fourteen minutes into the second half. Henry Smith was bizarrely penalised for time-wasting while holding on to the ball in the penalty area, leading to an indirect free-kick from which Ejitio Notaristefano reduced the deficit. It should have been incidental. A short-time later Bologna were reduced to ten men after Herbert Wass picked up his second booking, while Hearts had more than enough of possession, territory and opportunities to put the tie beyond doubt.

Instead they went to Italy two weeks later in an advantageous yet perilous position having surrendered an away goal. They were also battling numerous problems in attack with Robertson, Foster, Colquhoun and Ferguson all struggling for fitness.

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In the end, Hearts never got going in the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara. The home side threatened twice in the opening exchanges but the visitors didn’t heed the warning and were behind on 17 minutes. Lajos Detari, who had missed the first leg in Scotland, punished Craig Levein for a poor backpass and the Italians were on their way.

It wouldn’t be until the 74th minute that the heartbreak was realised. Captain Renato Villa diverted a Detari set-up into the Hearts net and the hosts were in command of the tie. They soon strengthened their position as Pietro Mariani took advantage of gaps at the back to fire low beyond Smith. Jordan would later admit his side had deserved nothing on the day.

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