This is only the second time Ranieri and Pioli have faced each other as coaches after ChievoVerona 2-2 Roma (Serie A) on 4 December 2010. The current Bologna manager played under Ranieri at Fiorentina in the 1993/94 and 1994/95 season. The first year they won the Serie B championship gaining promotion to the top flight, Pioli making 30 appearances with no goals. In their second term together, Fiorentina ended the year in 10th place (24 appearances, 0 goals for Pioli).

This is the twelfth time Ranieri has faced Bologna as a coach in a competitive fixture. So far he has managed 8 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat, which came all the way back in 1996 when his Fiorentina team lost 3-1 at the Stadio Dall’Ara. In home games Ranieri is unbeaten against today's opponents: 3 wins and 2 draws in 5 previous meetings.

This is the fourth time that Pioli has taken on Inter as a coach in a competitive fixture, with 1 win and 2 defeats to date. The Nerazzurri scored in all 3 previous games - 5 goals in total.

Inter haven't scored in a competitive game since 1 February, in the 4-4 draw against Palermo at the Meazza (Serie A): all four Nerazzurri goals were bagged by Milito, the last one coming in the 69th minute. Since then, in the remaining 21 minutes of that match plus the Serie A games lost to Roma (4-0 away) and Novara (0-1 at home), they have gone 201 minutes without finding the back of the net.

Inter have managed to get 14 different players on the score sheet this season (only AC Milan have had more with 15). Those 14 Nerazzurri are Alvarez, Cambiasso, Castaignos, Coutinho, Faraoni, Forlan, Lucio, Maicon, Milito, Nagatomo, Pazzini, Ranocchia, Sneijder and Thiago Motta. Conversely, Bologna have only had 7 different scorers (Acquafresca, Cherubin, Diamanti, Di Vaio, Loria, Portanova and Ramirez), which is the joint second fewest in the league; Chievo also have 7 while Cesena have only 6.

Bologna haven't won a competitive game against Inter - home or away - since 10 February 2002, when they won 2-1 in a Serie A match. In the 15 competitive matches played between the two sides since then, there have been 2 draws and 13 wins for Inter.

Inter are the team with the fewest yellow cards in Serie A 2011/12: just 35. Bologna on the other hand have picked up the second highest number of bookings: 62. Only Atalanta (with 64) have a worse record.

Bologna are the only team in the 2011/12 Serie A season so far unable to get a midfielder on the score sheet. Of their 18 goals, 3 have been netted by defenders (1 each by Cherubin, Loria and Portanova) and 15 by forwards (6 Di Vaio, 4 Ramirez, 3 Acquafresca and 2 Diamanti).

MILAN - "What's happening? We can see what's happening: we're not doing what we're capable of doing. It's one of those moments, we just have to accept our responsibility and apologise to the president and our fans, who were behind us until we went 2-0 down and then understandably they started protesting after the third. For a few games now the opposition have hurt us with their first chance, today we got hit twice in two minutes. We must stand together at the moment. I said yesterday that we are playing with a 10-kilo weight. I expected a tough game tonight but not like that." Claudio Ranieri was looking for no excuses as he commented on Inter's defeat against Bologna to Sky Sport Italia.

Could playing in the Champions League next Wednesday away from the Meazza could be a good thing for the Nerazzurri? "Maybe, I don't know. We have to talk together now, look at and analyse everything to explain why we conceded a goal from their first chance. We had found our balance and we were very tight tactically speaking; now we've lost that."

Could it be down to the fact that the formation has been tinkered with too much? "It may have something to do with that but if I did it it was because we played games that required it."

Asked if he was considering a drastic decision or resignation, Ranieri replied: "No, absolutely not. We're all united and we want to find a solution."

Against Bologna the team seemed to be lacking order and balance, but Ranieri explained: "You can control lots of things but when you make mistakes like this it's hard to find a solution because they aren't the sort of mistakes we normally make. We conceded to Novara with their first chance as well."

The coach then asked about Sneijder: "He should be that extra man for us behind the striker but when I see things are tough out there I move him wide. I have to find a way to fit the whole team together. Should I have put on an extra striker when we were 2-0 down? It's easy to say that when you lose, but if your house is falling down there's no point trying to put another tile on top; you try to add a supporting pillar. When games take that sort of turn everything becomes more difficult, but we're not going to give up: we'll discuss it tomorrow and we'll find the best solution for it."

Ranieri commented further on the game to Mediaset Premium: "All we can do at the moment is close ranks and knuckle down. It's a funny moment, they have one shot and they score. We'd just had two chances and then we find ourselves two goals down in a minute. We must accept the president's decision to leave the stadium. He's our biggest fan, he can't contest the team and his disappointment - which is the same way we feel - prompted him to leave the stadium. As I said, we have to apologise to him and all the fans. Is the sale of Thiago Motta the cause of all this? Selling a single player cannot be the cause. We have to work and try to produce a good performance against Marseille to win back the faith of our president and our fans."

"We must find our determination of old," Ranieri continued. "We saw that a bit today but we can't repeat certain errors. The fans are right to remember José Mourinho; they should never forget him given the success he achieved at Inter. It didn't bother me to hear the fans chanting his name, but that coach isn't here any more, this is a different Inter, one that is currently going through a rough patch and that needs to respond. That means with the fans too and we have to win them back with our performances and our success."

The Nerazzurri coach said to Rai Sport: "I'll speak to the team tomorrow morning. We're men of sport and we must show a reaction because on Wednesday we have a tough, important match."

starting lineups

substitutes