Bologna is a beautiful city that is known for its culinary expertise, medieval architecture and a real Italian culture. But for most of the modern times it is not known worldwide for its football. That could change on Wednesday evening.
The club from Emilia-Romagna, which dominated Italian football in the 1930s, has been sleeping for more than half a century, with their last trophy in 1974. But against all the opportunities they qualified for the Champions League this season and are now about to get one better.
Bologna plays AC Milan in the Coppa Italia final on Wednesday evening in Rome's Stadio Olimpico, knowing that they can give their city the biggest party of modern times, with last year's feasts in Piazza Maggiore to roast in a place in Europe's Elite competition.
And defender Sam Beukema, the Dutchman who speaks perfect English, has been the core of all this – although he may be too modest to admit so much. “Of course I am really enthusiastic,” he tells Mail Sport. 'We will give ourselves everything in the final to bring a trophy back to this club and the fans.
“I am really motivated. Last year we experienced a great party in the city with all the fans who came when we qualified for the Champions League. But if we can bring a real price, a trophy, to this city, the fans will be even more proud of us. We want to take it to Bologna.
“The food here is great, man. In Bologna they know how to cook! In Italy in general the food is really good, but Bologna … the city and people are very nice. Lots of respect when they approach you. It is a really nice place to live, a historic city with many really nice monuments. '
In recent months, Beukema has been linked to Premier League clubs with Liverpool that has credited interest from Italian reports, while Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have also been disputed as a potential destination.
For now, however, he is of life in Bologna and is only focused on winning the Coppa Italia.
One of the most interesting episodes of the career of the defender was when he went to Liverpool's house boss Arne Slot. Beukema was in Go to Go Avites and had a decision to take his next club, Feyenoord or AZ Alkmaar.
He explains: 'I went to his house. When I moved from Go to Go Avitse to AZ, it was between AZ and Feyenoord, both were really interested in me. I spoke to both of them. At that time, Arne Slot was about to become the new coach of Feyenoord.
“He invited me to his place, we had a very good conversation. You could see that he was a really good coach, even though I didn't play with him.
“The way he spoke to me, the way he showed me some clips of me, I thought:” Wow, I never thought of that before, he thinks about football differently “. But in that period there were uncertainties at Feyenoord, so I made my choice for AZ and never doubted it. '
Beukema was once in the top 10 in the world when playing FIFA and he still enjoys catching up with his Dutch friends on the PlayStation when he does not taste Italian cuisine in the city.
A highlight of this season was playing in Grand Stadiums such as Anfield and Villa Park in the Champions League and he managed to catch up with his idol, Virgil van Dijk.
“One of the best defenders in the world at the moment is of course Van Dijk,” he says. “He's Dutch, so I'm looking up at him. He is, I think, the best. He is a modern defender, I also love Ruben Dias and Alessandro Bastoni. They are the three that I look up.
'I spoke a bit with Virgil in Anfield after the game. It was nice to speak with him and the other Dutch boys.
'It's funny to see (the Dutch players who are doing so well in all of Europe). It is really nice to see. It says a lot about the players we have in the Netherlands. We have a lot of really good players of a top level. It is really nice to see that they are doing well throughout Europe. '
Beukema, although he has not yet been drained by the Netherlands, is hopeful that he will soon be in that category – and winning the Coppa Italia will certainly help with that.
He adds: 'I started playing football in six years old, I grew up with a ball on my feet. It was always my dream to become a football player, just like any other small child. That I now play football in the Serie A and also played my first Champions League season, it is a dream come true.
'We have a real, really special group at Bologna. I already feel at home, it is a really warm club and everyone is so involved from the material boys to the women who cook for the players – we are one team and one group. That is our strength, I think.
'Since I arrived, the club went so well (points up). But now we want to continue. It has been a great journey so far, but we want to continue that. '