Bologna-Milan officially postponed due to bad weather, Theo and Reijnders to serve their suspensions against Napoli | OneFootball

Stadio Renato Dall’Ara before Bologna-Shakhtar Donetsk on September 18, 2024. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Milan will not play on Saturday in Bologna due to heavy rains, so their next game is against Napoli.

After the 3-1 win in the Champions League against Club Brugge on Tuesday, Milan were getting ready to face Bologna at Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on Saturday at 18:00 CEST.

However, it has been made official this evening (Thursday) that the match will not be taking place.

The Mayor of Bologna, Matteo Lepore, after consulting with the policy and other governing officials signed an ordinance ordering the suspension of the match. The reason is rain forecasts and the ongoing situation with serious floods which have been affecting Bologna and also the neighbourhood that hosts the stadium, located on the Andrea Costa Street.

35,000 fans were supposed to arrive for the match and Lepore ruled that this would create public order issues due to the presence of visiting fans and the traffic closures around the area from the early afternoon until late at night. The game would therefore have to be rescheduled to a later date.

Paulo Fonseca during training at Milanello. (@acmilan.com)

It’s not yet clear when the match will be played, as both Milan and Bologna have extremely busy schedules as both participate in the Champions League. As reported by Milannews.it, there is no room in the calendar at least until late February or March, provided that both Milan and Bologna continue their journeys in Europe and in the Coppa Italia.

In theory, the first available date is January 15, but that date was initially reserved for making up games postponed due to the Supercoppa. The first week without midweek commitments for both teams falls between December 15 and 21, but Milan is already scheduled to play Genoa on December 15 and Verona on December 20. This would require all three matches to be rescheduled.

Theo Hernández during training at Milanello. (@acmilan.com)

In addition to the scheduling issues, this also causes a sporting headache for Paulo Fonseca who would now have to deal without Theo Hernández and Tijjani Reijnders in next Tuesday’s match at San Siro against Napoli. The two were originally going to serve their bans against Bologna.

Milan will use this extra time to recovery some more and maybe get back more injured players. Davide Calabria has returned to group training, while Tammy Abraham and Luka Jović are still out.