Serie A Scots aiming to emulate Graeme Souness 40 y/o glory as Lewis Ferguson faces off against cup specialist

Italy’s national cup competition has reached the semi-final stage and the first legs will be played this week, with Empoli hosting Bologna on Tuesday followed by a Milan derby the following evening.

Graeme Souness was the last man from these shores to play in a winning Coppa Italia team and the former Scotland captain scored the only goal in the first leg of the final as Sampdoria beat AC Milan at San Siro in 1985. The Genoa club lifted the trophy three days later after winning the second leg 2-1 through goals from their brilliant strikeforce of Roberto Mancini and Gianluca Vialli.

It was Sampdoria’s first success in the tournament and came against a Milan side which included Franco Baresi, Ray Wilkins and Mark Hateley.

Tomorrow’s Empoli v Bologna game throws up a midfield battle between Liam Henderson, a regular for the former this season, and Lewis Ferguson, who is back to his best with high-flying Bologna after fighting back from a knee ligament rupture.

While Ferguson has - rightly - been receiving plaudits for his performances in Serie A along with compatriots Billy Gilmour and Scott McTominay at Napoli and Che Adams at Torino, Henderson has been flying under the radar somewhat.

The former Celtic and Hibs man has been an important cog in the Empoli side this season after spending the last campaign on loan at Palermo in Serie B. He scored his side’s first goal in a shootout as Empoli sprang a surprise on Juventus in the quarter-finals, winning 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

By defeating the record 15-time winners, Empoli advanced to the semis for the first time in their club’s history.

Henderson, 28, is now in his eighth season in Italian football and is currently embroiled in a relegation battle with Empoli who are third bottom with eight games to go. Having won the Scottish Cup with Hibs, the League Cup with Celtic and also playing a part in Rosenborg’s successful Norwegian Cup-winning campaign while on loan in 2015, Henderson is something of a specialist when it comes to knockout tournaments.

Bologna are at the other end of the table and are pushing to qualify for the Champions League for the second year in a row. They are fourth at the moment, a point ahead of fifth-placed Juventus and two behind Atalanta who are third.

It is 26 years since Bologna made it as far as the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia and there is a determination to finish the season strongly after a disappointing Champions League campaign which saw them win one match from eight in the league phase.

While Serie A leaders Inter are favourites to defeat AC Milan in the other semi and go on and lift the trophy, there is a feeling in Emilia-Romagna that this could be Bologna’s year. They have not won the cup since 1974.

“We played for history and we succeeded,” their coach, Vincenzo Italiano, said after the away win over Atalanta in the quarter-finals.

Both league matches between Empoli and Bologna this season have finished 1-1 and the semis are likely to throw up two more close encounters as Ferguson and Henderson find themselves one step away from the final in Rome on May 14.