Lorenzo Bonino had a face like thunder as he departed Cagliari’s Unipol Domus after witnessing his Torino FC players labour to a dire 0-0 in their final game of 2027. It wasn’t so much the result or Torino’s reputable 10th place in Serie A that had clearly angered the manager. But more so, the same old players continuing to roll out diabolical performances, give up huge amounts of possession and miss countless chances time and time again.
Minutes after Bonino had shunned the press at the post-match media pen, reports began to emerge that an altercation had occurred inside the away dressing room. And the rumours were only fuelled by Brazilian winger leaving the changing room with a bloodied and hurriedly plastered eyebrow. Indeed, a leak inside the changing room revealed that Bonino had lost his cool with the players, in particular the underperforming Angelo, who unwisely argued his case. Bonino totally lost it and flung a stray boot in the winger’s direction, catching him firmly in the forehead before departing screaming “Vaffanculo” at the top of his lungs.
Bonino needed an escape and, according to his wife Luisa, did just that as he whisked his beloved dog Pepe out to a country retreat to avoid human interaction for a few days. Even his good friend Gianluigi Lentini couldn’t get through to him – however, reports had been leaked that Spanish side Real Sociedad had succeeded in tapping Bonino up for their vacant manager role. A few days later, he returned to civilization and, alongside Lentini, headed to Olimpico Grande Torino to meet with relatively new president Stewart Donald. The president was keen to appease Bonino and, in light of Sociedad’s interest, offered to increase the transfer budget and put a new contract on the table. Bonino, feeling he owed the Torinese a little loyalty, signed on the dotted line to stay at the club until 2030.
The Angelo altercation would not resolve itself, so Bonino instantly transfer listed him and Rennes were foolish enough to pay £7.5m. Midfielder Kian Fitz-Jim also wasn’t up to it and joined Twente for £2.5m. Coming into the club in their place were two players Bonino was very excited about working with as 6ft 5in wingback Adam Bakoune signed for £6.5m from Monza and 6ft 4in wonderkid centre back Valentin Zabransky joined for £14.5m from RB Salzburg.
Bonino also went back to the drawing board tactically as he looked to try and wrestle back possession of the football and moved to a 3-5-2. Winger Leonel Flores will train as a striker as he moves up top alongside Giovanni Simeone with Roma loanee Valerio Maccaroni coming into midfield and Luca Weinhandl dropping back into an advanced centre back role between Zabransky and Martin Vitík. Bonino accepted it might take a while for the tactic to work and wasn’t expecting immediate results, but felt like this was a positive move for the team he was putting together.
Bedding in a New Tactical Approach
Worryingly, Torino got battered by 13 shots to 1 at Monza in the first game of 2028. But a couple of tactical tweaks saw them take control as Simeone sent Flores in for his first goal for the club before Maccaroni’s wonderful solo strike gave them the perfect start to the year. Back at the Olimpico, Torino welcomed surprise leaders Lecce and looked very good again as an Emirhan Ílkhan brace and a first goal by homegrown striker Tommaso Gabellini earned a 3-2 victory.
The same old story followed at Palermo, who scored with their only real attack while Torino wasted 16 shots before Simeone popped up with a late equaliser. Yet another 1-1 followed – that’s the 7th this season, after 6 last season – this time at struggling title holders Roma, before a frustrating 2-1 defeat at home to leaders Milan, who converted pretty much their only chances and somehow bossed 72% of possession, and a 1-0 loss at rivals Juventus, who scored from a corner. Next up, they hosted Como in a game that typified Bonino’s frustration. Como scored their only real chance before Torino absolutely dominated, took 10 long range shoots despite being told not to and missed a host of chances before Mandragora finally scored.
That result convinced Bonino to go back to basics, switching to a standard 4-3-3. And, lo and behold, it worked to an extent as, despite only 41% possession, a Simeone hat trick downed Cagliari 3-0 for a first win in six matches. That was backed up by Simeone scoring two more in a 2-0 win at home to Padova, before rare Weinhandl and Flores goals earned the same scoreline at home to struggling Lazio.
They lost 1-0 at Torino but young midfielder Andrea Luongo bagged his first senior goal in a 2-0 win over Sassuolo. And that set them up for a strong finish to the season, including a dominant 2-0 win at home to Hellas Verona, which lifted them to 8th place with two games remaining. The good form continued as Simeone’s brace inspired a 3-2 win at Napoli, before completing the campaign with a disappointing 3-2 loss to Monza.
But Torino finished the season in a more than respectable 8th place on 58 points (6 fewer than last season) after 15 wins, 13 draws and 10 defeats, scoring 58 and conceding 47. There was a more familiar look at the top of the table as Inter reclaimed their crown ahead of city rivals Milan, but credit has to go to Lecce for a stunning season that saw them mount a title challenge until around February and finish in an impressive 3rd. Winger Alessio Cacciamani led Serie A with 14 assists and Simeone was the 6th top scorer with 21 in 36, well behind the impressive 31 in 34 of Napoli’s Rasmus Hojlund.
Champions League Hopes Build and Fade
Torino finally ignited their first Champions League campaign as Simeone ran riot with four goals, three of which were laid on by Cacciamani, in a 6-0 demolition of Crvena zvezda. That took them 2 points behind the playoff places ahead of the final league stage game at home to Athletic Club, in which they did their bit as an Ílkhan brace edged a 4-3 thriller. And that, against all the odds, secured 22nd place and a place in the playoff round. They avoided big boys like Chelsea and Man City, who were drawn against each other, and instead took on Galatasaray, who battered them in the league stage. And that was the case again as Bonino’s three centre backs apparently couldn’t handle Osimhen and they lost 4-0 on aggregate.
A Slow Start, But Shoots of Recovery
Cacciamani made his debut for Italy in March, starting on the left wing alongside Chiesa and Pio Esposito in a 1-0 friendly win over Denmark. And he scored his first goal for Italy a few days later in a 1-1 with Slovakia. He was exceptional this season, leading the way with a new club record 19 assists plus 4 goals in 38 games. Simeone was again the top scorer with 28 in 44, while Gvidas Gineitis scored 9 with 6 assists and Mandragora provided 10 assists and 6 goals, most of which were long range screamers.
Bonino felt the side had turned a corner in the last couple of months of his second season in Torino. Tactical effectiveness was slowly but surely improving, and a news story released a few days after the season finale revealed the manager was “enjoying near-untouchable status, earning rave reviews from all quarters for his work. Since taking charge, his stock has only continued to grow, with his standing in the game now well beyond where it was on arrival, and admiring glances are being mad towards the work done… He is one of football’s greatest entertainers, with a commitment to entertaining football winning plenty of admirers, one that encourages players to let loose and play with freedom.”
Elsewhere in Europe, Liverpool won the Premier League by 7 points from Arsenal and Man City, Barcelona won LaLiga with Real and Atlético 4 and 5 points back, Bayern won Bundesliga by 7 points from Dortmund, PSG won Ligue 1 by 9 points from Nantes, Feyenoord won Eredivisie, Porto won the Portuguese title by a point from Benfica, and Rangers dominated the Scottish Premiership, finishing 15 clear of Hearts and 16 clear of Celtic. Chelsea beat PSG 1-0 to win the Champions League, Feyenoord’s season was crowned by beating Marseille 2-1 to lift the Europa League and Newcastle defeated Valencia 2-1 after extra time to win the Conference League.
Could Bonino continue to instil that entertaining factor into his third season at Torino and continue to look up the Serie A table? Join us on Monday to find out!
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