Welcome to Calcio Square, an email newsletter dedicated to Serie A and Italian football. Every Thursday, I dedicate my entire post to one specific theme or trend. Today's issue praises the work Vincenzo Italiano is doing at Bologna.

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Bologna could end up having a better season than they had last year.

They were only supposed to get through this one. How could Bologna possibly think of anything else after losing their head coach and three of their most important players? The size of the task slowly revealed itself as Bologna's opening 11 games yielded a measly win.

But something clicked as they entered November. Head coach Vincenzo Italiano began to understand his players, and they began to understand him. Summer signing Benja Dominguez started dribbling his way into the spotlight. Santiago Castro, who arrived in the middle of Bologna's fairytale season, started scoring big goals in Joshua Zirkzee's absence. Jens Odgaard added energy to midfield. Charalampos Lykogiannis, a nondescript full-back with a full description of a name, suddenly turned every cross into an assist. Jhon Lucumi and Sam Beukema finally stemmed the flow of goals at the back.

Italiano began to trust all of his players. Seventeen of them have played more than 500 minutes in Serie A. He's found a role for everyone to fill.

He rotates players better than most coaches do. He's the antithesis of Antonio Conte, who finds success in shortening his squad. Italiano, on the contrary, opens it up to everyone. Bologna are so good at suffocating opponents because they have so many willing runners raring to go. It's tough for other teams to repel them.

Atalanta couldn't do anything about it on Tuesday. Bologna pressed them well into the 90th minute, preventing them from forging any way back into the game. Atalanta weren't in the best shape, but Bologna were. They play as aggressively as any team but don't really show it.

Italiano's Bologna actually have 37 points from 22 league matches — one more than they had under Thiago Motta after as many games last season. They don't control as much possession but are far more physical and intense than Motta's iteration. They've lost just once since November and are in the Coppa Italia semifinals for the first time in 26 years. Crucially, they're just five points behind the Champions League places.

This is no longer just a season to get through. This is now a season to relish.

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