Lewis Ferguson is hero of Bologna and pride of Scotland - his achievement is a remarkable one

Just over seven years since making his senior debut for Hamilton Accies in a 2-0 defeat to Motherwell in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup, Ferguson became the first Scot since Graeme Souness 40 years ago to get his hands on the Coppa Italia trophy by captaining Bologna to a 1-0 win over AC Milan in the Italian capital on Wednesday night.

Playing alongside Ferguson in Accies midfield that January 2018 afternoon was Massimo Donati - a player the then 17-year-old Scot looked up to as a veteran of Serie A with spells at Atalanta, AC Milan and Torino among others. Little did the young Ferguson know back then that he would go on to eclipse Donati's career in Italy by the time he was 25.

A major personal accolode last season - landing the Bulgarelli Number 8 award for being the best midfielder in Serie A - followed by clinching his first team silverware with Bologna is a major achievement for Ferguson in its own right. But consider there was a cruciate ligament injury which sidelined him from April to November last year, followed by a series of minor injury setbacks in the current campaign, then it is a truly remarkable accomplishment for the Scotland midfielder to have skippered his Bologna side to their first national cup win in 51 years.

“It’s been a tough journey, especially with the serious injury I had. I had to put in a lot of hard work for six or even seven months,” Ferguson shared with reporters post-match at the Stadio Olimpico. "When I finally made it back, I had to put in even more effort, only to be hit by another injury, and then another again. It’s been a challenging year, but I’m over the moon to be here. We delivered a historic performance tonight.”

How Aberdeen setback inspired Coppa Italia win

Ferguson tapped into his previous cup final heartache with Aberdeen, where he lost out on a League Cup winners' medal to a Ryan Christie wonder strike in a 1-0 defeat to Celtic in 2018, for inspiration ahead of the final against Milan. “This morning I revisited that match to remind myself of those feelings… I used it as motivation for tonight,” he revealed.

Ferguson's arrival in Bologna from Aberdeen in 2022 has coincided with the club's rise from a lower-ranked Serie A side to one which is competing for European places. He is the focal point for the team, setting the tempo and building the game, much like Callum McGregor does for Celtic. His stamped his authority all over Wednesday’s final, playing the full 90+7 minutes despite suffering a nasty blow to the face late in the first half that left blood pouring from his nose and required a change of shirt. Whether he remains at Bologna this summer amid rumoured interest from the likes of Juventus and Napoli remains to be seen.

Ferguson's cup triumph is phase one of what could be an unprecedented Scottish double in Italian football this season. Napoli duo Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour are leading Serie A by a point with two matches remaining and could clinch the title this weekend with a victory at Parma providing second-placed Internazionale lose at home to Lazio. Otherwise it will go down to a last day showdown where Napoli host Cagliari and Inter travel to Como.