Dan Ndoye struck twice on the day as Bologna returned to winning ways.
“I am pleased with the reaction after two defeats, this is where you can see the team is alive and has character. This game was very, very important for many reasons, that is one of them, another is our position in the table,” Italiano told Sky Italia.
“I am glad that Ndoye finally scored, that Orso came off the bench, scored and assisted. This is what we wanted, because if we had failed to get a result this evening too, it would’ve affected our morale.
“I think thanks to this victory we are gearing up for the Coppa Italia in good shape.”
The coach continued: “Playing every three days, we need to do our training during the matches, as there is practically no time to prepare games. This is an area where we need to grow and I saw in 95 minutes that we showed improvement.
“The second half was better than the first, we shook off the issues of recent matches, won back the ball repeatedly. It’s true we need to score more goals considering our chances and have to improve in our finishing, but it was a good result.
“I already said in our most recent press conference, it’s good that we are closing the gap and need to stay in the slipstream of the top sides. We’ve got to hang in there and try to reach the midway stage of the season in that position.
“The Champions League is helping us to grow and get stronger, it is a learning curve for the team. As Jose Mourinho says, the Champions League is a tournament where details make the difference and perhaps this is where we are lacking. I don’t know if it’s experience, quality or attitude, but our performances have overall been good in Europe, we just lose because of details.
“We’ve been able to cause huge problems for quality opponents and tend to keep the game alive until the closing stages. There are three games to go, you never know what will happen if some of those strikers wake up one day and decide to thump them into the top corner.”