Struggling Torino look for a grand gesture

As Turin marks the 60th anniversary of the Superga air disaster that robbed them and the world of 'Il Grande Torino', the Granata's current representatives are caught up in surroundings quite alien to their predecessors, fighting with Sunday's opponents Bologna FC for Serie A survival.

Torino success 
'Il Grande Torino' are part of footballing folklore. The team captained by the great Valentino Mazzola dominated the Italian game in the 1940s, earning five successive Scudetti thanks in no small part to a run of 93 matches unbeaten at home. Torino's dominance extended to the national team. Also skippered by Mazzola, father of FC Internazionale Milano favourite Sandro, the Azzurri routinely featured eight or nine Granata and against Hungary in May 1947 lined up with ten Torino players. It would have eleven but first-choice goalkeeper Valerio Bacigalupo was rested.

'Huge blow'
The halcyon days ended in tragedy on 4 May 1949. Returning in fog after a friendly against SL Benfica in Lisbon, Torino's plane crashed into the Basilica of Superga on a hill close to Turin, killing all 31 people on board including 18 players. As Pope Pius XII sent messages of condolence, Italian president Luigi Einaudi lamented a "huge blow for the entire nation". Over the course of two days more than 800,000 mourners filed into Turin's Palazzo Madama to pay their respects.

'Same objective'
Sixty years on current Torino coach Giancarlo Camolese is also keen to honour their memory. "We wanted a win against [ACF] Fiorentina last week ahead of the anniversary but unfortunately we lost," he said. "Now we have to beat Bologna." With seven-time titleholders Torino and Bologna among four teams battling to avoid being one of the three teams consigned to Serie B come 31 May, Camolese is not overstating the gravity of the situation. "We have to use our brains," said the coach, whose side have won just three of their last 17 league outings. "We can't let Bologna gain confidence; we have to expose their weaknesses. Psychologically it's better to be one point ahead of them [and fourth from bottom] as we are but it will be a game of huge intensity. Both teams have the same objective."

'Give it our all'
Camolese will be without the suspended Matteo Sereni and Angelo Obinze Ogbonna at the Stadio Olimpico, though Bologna have two players missing for the same reason, midfielders Nicola Mingazzini and Massimo Mutarelli. Crucially Marco Di Vaio, scorer of 21 of the Rossoblù's 37 Serie A goals this season, including a hat-trick in the 5-2 win against Torino when the sides met in December, is available and will lead the fight to avoid the drop in this, Bologna's centenary. "We are going to Turin to give it our all," said coach Giuseppe Papadopulo, like Camolese his side's third coach of the campaign. "Both teams will still have three difficult games to finish the season so it's still a long way, but for now we have to think only of the Turin game. We have to play with optimism and I'm sure we have the right spirit to avoid the drop."