Pioggia Viola : AFC Fiorentina

After a transfer window where Fiorentina didn’t spend a single Euro on senior players Vincenzo Montella feels like he has made the most important signing of the season as Lyanco returns from injury. After holding on at the top of the table, getting one of their best defenders back feels like a huge win. Having Lyanco back for a trip to Milan also feels like a big win, getting the centerback into the lineup and playing again could frame a sustained run at the top.

It’s hard to say if this game was proof of how far Milan has fallen or have far Fiorentina has risen, perhaps a little of both. Stefano Pioli was more than happy to sit back in a 4-1-2-3 and wait for the opportunity to strike, to their credit they were much better at halting Fiorentina in the midfield and starting an attack of their own despite I Viola owning the ball most of the game. Pol Lirola would be taken off at 24’ after a hard collision with Suso left him clutching his left shoulder, Montella was lucky it wasn’t anything serious.

Sadly this game was very vanilla, neither team looked like they were going to break through and as stoppage time approached Pioli looked pleased with the point. Perhaps the moment of relaxation put Milan in a bad place, or it was Montella’s lucky day, Pioli was about to be very disappointed. Lorenzo Venuti, on for Lirola, made his way to the end line and hammered a cross to the near post where Evander and Talles Magno nearly collided to head the ball just inside the post at 90’. The near collision helped block off Gianluigi Donnarumma and video replay would be needed to attribute the goal to Evander. It didn’t matter who knocked it in, Fiorentina had stolen victory from the jaws of a draw and they were still in the hunt.



Montella was dogged with criticism before this game even started after naming his second squad to start, essentially punting the game to be fresh for the Coppa Italia and league games after that. After staying at the top of the table it was a bitter pill for fans to see proof that they still have a long way to go to catch up to Juventus. The fans in Turin were more than happy to mock the visiting fans for folding, but Montella has more things to be concerned with.

“I am selecting them because I believe in them” said Montella when asked about his lineup “they have played well, we can win this game if we play our game. Nobody is giving up.”

To put it bluntly, Fiorentina got torched but the hosts right out of the gate as they endured an absolutely brutal first 12’ of the game. Bartłomiej Drągowski was having the game of his life, or living through a nightmare, and it looked to be over at 18’ when Ronaldo scored and proceeded to preen and strut before someone had to point out that the linesman had his flag up for offsides. Despite his complaints, the flag didn’t come down, he had to suffer through a few more minutes before he could score for real on a rather stunning goal. Alex Sandro, nearly on the right sideline, would send in a cross to Ronaldo just on the right side of the arc and he turned his body oddly to take the shot left footed and caught the underside of the net near the left post. This time the theatrics were well deserved, Drągowski could only shrug.

Right about the time Juventus went up 1-0 things really started to go south for Fiorentina as Mauricio Sarri’s midfield diamond did its thing against Montella’s usually dominant double pivot. Pelayo Morilla and Federico Ceccherini had already been booked by this point and Cristiano Biraghi was about to join them. Biraghi was booked for time wasting after essentially standing on the ball while Juventus tried to take a free kick quickly, allowing the defense to get into place. For whatever reason Giorgio Chiellini was deeply offended by this and a minor scuffle between the sides broke out. Despite all the effort to get the team ready, the ensuing free kick found Pablo Dybala unmarked and well clear of the back line on a kick from nearly midfield, he didn’t waste the opportunity and put Juventus up 2-0. By some miracle Tòfol Montiel would score at 41’, up until that point I Viola had only managed (2) shots and none of them bothered Wojciech Szczesny. Juventus were completely dominating this game and Fiorentina were helping them with useless passes to nobody that the hosts were happy to collect.



The second half turned into a total dumpster fire for everyone involved, but Juventus were up 2-1 so the chaos benefited them significantly more. Gaetano Castrovilli got the ball rolling at 58’ when he was booked for a sloppy tackle that look a lot like he was just trying to kick Miralem Pjanic in the ankle, there was some finger pointing and Juventus players turned from Castrovilli to the ref for not sending him off. This is probably where anyone who paid for a ticket got what they paid for and more as Danilo had his ankle clipped by Martin Terrier and he fell to the ground screaming and rolling around in a way that would make Neymar proud. Sadly, while his theatrics started another scuffle it turned out he was actually hurt. He was taken off at 62’ for Mattia De Sciglio who ended up on the wrong end of a Biraghi tackle that had “second booking” written all over it. Montella was right in his ear as he walked off and down the tunnel, but he wouldn’t be done unloading on his own players. Ceccherini wasn’t far behind him after finishing off De Sciglio, getting his second booking and forcing him out with a knee injury. Down to (9) men at 70’, this game suddenly looked like a train wreck for Fiorentina. Gonzalo Higuaín would score easily at 80’ and that would do it for a rivalry game filled with the kind of rough play one might expect in a rugby match. While Montella had some choice words about the lenient officiating for Juventus, his side was just as guilty.



The Derby dell’Arno would end January, a nice fixture to close out a good month for I Viola. Unfortunately Fiorentina’s training pitch was trying to do its best to keep Montella from winning, Kevin Prince-Boateng and Matteo Gabbia would both be ruled out for 3-4 weeks with an ankle sprain suffered on the same day. Montiel would be the only emergency CAM available now, but Prince-Boateng has barely seen the field so this shouldn’t have been an issue. The stretch of games after the Juventus debacle really helped everyone put that mess behind them, a 2-0 win against Brescia in the Coppa Italia was followed by a 4-0 win against Hellas Verona, a 2-0 at Parma, and a 4-1 win against Cagliari in the next round of the Coppa Italia. Drawing Lazio in the semifinal would dampen the mood a bit, but with Fiorentina (5) points back of Lazio in 1st Montella was more focused on Serie A.

Despite fans being happy about this derby becoming more regular, even as Empoli bounces back and forth from Serie A to Serie B, the quality of play isn’t quite there yet. Empoli came in as heavy underdogs and little changed after kickoff, even when Biraghi had to leave after 18’ with a tight calf. The reason this game became noteworthy was the performance of Terrier, specifically his first goal to put I Viola up 2-0. At 58’ Venuti booted a cross from the edge of Empoli’s third, all the way at the right sideline, all the way to the far side of the goal area with Terrier just stepping into the box. Edoardo Lancini was giving him too much space, and he had the time to calmly position himself in stride and strike the ball out of the air and hammer the ball back across the goal and into the net. Alberto Brignoli literally ended up doing a comical cartwheel, something that would end up going viral as Terrier took the Goal Of The Month award with his strike. Just that goal alone with worth a PoM, but he would finish the game with (2) and assist on Dušan Vlahović’s.

A good month of football aside from the Juventus loss, but I don't think that's anything to be too upset about. Hopefully you can make your way past Lazio and into the final of the Coppa Italia.

The Coppa Italia would start off February as a mini-preview in the Serie A title race as Lazio (1st) and Fiorentina (2nd) would clash in the first leg of the semifinal. Simone Inzaghi would head into this match riding high, despite the mounting pressure, as Lazio would be on the verge of their 3rd ever Serie A title and what would be the first since the 1999-00 season. Vincenzo Montella was definitely feeling the pressure, but it wasn’t on the same level as Inzaghi, and many felt that might create an opening for I Viola to take this game. Montella wouldn’t be without issues for this game, Luca Pellegrini would be suspended through accumulated yellows and three of his starters (Marco Benassi, Armando Izzo, and Pol Lirola) would be a single booking away from missing the second leg. While Montella no doubt preached some caution, they couldn’t afford to let this one slip while being overly concerned about the next game.

Simone Inzaghi’s side would quickly show why they were in first and where Fiorentina would need to improve, a slow start by I Viola created a massive opening for the prospective league champions. Just 8’ into the game and Marc Cucurella would steal the ball on the left flank, run around the outside of Fiorentina’s defense, and score in close on a frustrated Bartłomiej Drągowski. At 18’ a long free kick into the box would ping pong around in the air, with Fiorentina passively letting it fly around, before Francesco Acerbi kicked it down out of the air and into the net. A slow start was now a 2-0 deficit and Lazio never looked back. Montella spent the rest of the game looking like he wanted to spit fire, but Lazio just straight up outplayed them and giving up two goals to start the game created a hole they couldn’t climb out of.

Small consolation that Fiorentina started to play better after being down 2-0, but failing to score in a road game is practically fatal in these types of scenarios. I Viola has looked good on offense, and defense, all year but hoping for a 3-0 win against Lazio might be just as fatal. Now would likely be a great time for Montella to change gears and focus on the league and the Europa Cup, freeing up some of the fixtures and beating Lazio when it really counts would be a great consolation prize after today.



Montella’s spirits were not good heading into the second leg of this matchup, but it wasn’t the 2-0 deficit that caused him to be fuming. A 1-0 loss at Cittadella in Serie A would create a thundercloud over his head, the second squad played so poorly against an inferior opponent that this game suddenly became very important. Two terrible outings in a row would be unacceptable and the team would get it from all angles, including from Montella himself.

The bad news for Lazio started out almost as soon as the game did, with Xherdan Shaqiri suffering an injury at 2’ that appeared fairly serious at first. A minor collision resulted in Shaqiri laying on the ground clutching his shoulder, he had to be carefully escorted out with what turned out to be a broken collarbone. It’s hard to say if that shook Lazio, or if they were overconfident up 2-0, but they couldn’t have been more flat as a team. Inzaghi’s side almost looked surprised to be facing an aggressive attack paired with a high pressing game, and they just couldn’t get out of their half of the field. It didn’t matter all that much as Lazio held their 2-0 lead, but an own goal at 32’ made it 1-0 as Stefan Radu accidentally escorted a free kick into his own net and now Fiorentina only needed a single score to make things interesting.

The fact that Fiorentina had the initiative and were only a goal away from pulling level turned the second half into the game fans had hoped for when they bought tickets. It also turned the game into a chippy affair that would have Montella in the officials ears until the final whistle. Lazio were fouling regularly in an attempt to slow down I Viola, but Fiorentina were getting booked more often. Things escalated at 77’ when Talles Magno continued his wonderful season by scoring a great goal off a short cross by slotting the ball into the upper left corner and putting Lazio on the spot. The physicality took a step up after that and didn’t stop once the game moved into extra time, but even with the momentum on their side Fiorentina couldn’t finish off Lazio in extra time. Lazio was entering into an almost lose-lose situation, Fiorentina wasn’t interested in going to penalties with a chance to finish off the game but going to penalties made it a near coin flip where Lazio should have finished them off. Montella was on the verge of being ejected as the shootout got underway, Fiorentina had been booked (6) times on (11) fouls while Lazio had been booked (3) times on (25).

The penalty shootout that followed was either incredible or a real downer depending on what you think of shootouts. Both teams were pretty good, neither keeper managed to block a shot as all of the misses ended up hitting the post or flying wide of the goal. Fiorentina were up 4-3 before Lazio’s Denis Vavro missed and it looked like I Viola finally had this in the bag. The next (4) attempts resulted in only a single score with Talles Magno, Lyanco, and Radu all missing. Both teams were clearly exhausted and things dragged on until it was the keepers' turn to face off. An audible gasp of disappointment ran through Artemio Franchi as Thomas Strakosha blocked Drągowski’s attempt to make it 8-8, Drągowski wasn’t able to return the favor and Lazio escaped with the narrowest of victories. Just losing this game wouldn’t have been so bad, but having it dragged out like this made it so much worse.



Fiorentina would follow up their frustrating loss to Lazio with a decent 2-1 against Sassuolo, and they would definitely need that momentum today. A trip to San Sebastián would be more about going to the beach, even though a few Fiorentina players got in trouble for taking a trip to the beach when they were supposed to be getting ready for the game, a win today would do a lot to repair the recent run of bad results while further legitimizing the job Montella was doing.

The primary disappointment today would be how easy Fiorentina would make this look. Pedro would score first at 19’ with a very typical Fiorentina goal, Pol Lirola running down the right would serve the ball in for Pedro to knock in easily. Talles Magno would score at 26’ on an almost identical setup, helping Lirola on his way to a PoM performance. Willian José would score a minute later on a Route One-ish goal, getting a long ball over the top and scoring at an almost impossible angle from the left, just barely getting the ball beyond Drągowski’s outstretched hand and just barely tucking it inside the far post. The 2-1 score was a little flattering for the hosts until things really fell apart at the end of the game. Abdou Fall, on for Orsolini, would score at 88’ and a few minutes later Nacho Monreal would get booked a second time to leave Real Sociedad down a man for this game and without his services in the next. Montella wouldn’t take a 3-1 lead lightly, but only Spurs and Juventus have shown the ability to beat up Fiorentina this season. Those (3) away goals could be a death sentence for Real Sociedad.



February quickly turned into a kind of Jekyll and Hyde month for Montella, and at this point it’s hard to tell which Fiorentina is going to show up. To be fair, the second squad has been the source of most of his issues, but the team has been very consistent across both squads all season. The big win over Real Sociedad would be followed up by an infuriating 1-1 draw with Genoa, literally the worst team in Serie A, and a new rivalry seems to be forming between these two. Fiorentina even had a man advantage after Peter Ankerson was ejected at 73’ but they couldn’t take advantage of it, Montella would need to put that game behind him as quickly as possible.

Luckily for Montella Real Sociedad were more than willing to help everyone forget about Genoa. Although, Riccardo Orsolini deserves the credit for putting Genoa out of everyone’s mind. Orsolini would score at 29’ from the far right corner of the box, putting the ball perfectly in the far left netting after nobody was marking him. That goal took all the air out of Real Sociedad, they looked like they were in a hurry to get out of Florence and back to the beach. Lyanco and Pedro would complete the win for a solid 6-1 aggregate victory. The win would boost Montella’s spirits and earn Fiorentina a date with Schalke 04, a much tougher opponent and another great test for I Viola.

A lot of drama to uncover during this update. An utterly heartbreaking way to lose against Lazio, but an excellent response eventually against Sociedad.

The second squad haven't done Montella many favours, but I think that could be justified given the lack of depth. There is a huge gulf in quality between the ideal starting eleven and the rest of the squad, I think.

March did not start well at all for Vincenzo Montella as Fiorentina continues their wild swing of results, trying to manage multiple high level competitions is really starting to grind on I Viola. Fiorentina first fell victim to Lazio, again, in a 1-0 loss at home that put a real dent in their Serie A title chances. A bunch of mid week games, thanks to the Europe League, around dates with Lazio and Inter have really put Montella’s squad(s) to the test. They failed the first, but a visit to Schalke 04 would give them an opportunity to turn things around.

Things got really heated in an already tight contest at 22’ when Javi Martínez put a sloppy tackle on Evander in the box. The penalty itself wasn’t the issue, Evander was able to play a beautiful ball to Pedro between defenders that he easily slotted into the net for a 1-0 lead. The whistle blew before he could score, and Montella went ballistic because they did not allow them to play the advantage. He didn’t stop screaming in the officials’ ear, even as Pedro lined up to take the penalty, and appeared to suffer a rage induced heart attack when Pedro’s attempt was blocked. L'ingiustizia!

Fans of attacking football would have loved this game as both teams went all out, raining shots down on both keepers. Fiorentina looked to have the advantage until Alfredo Morelos scored at 43’ off a wonderful long ball by Vinícius Júnior which allowed Morelos to burn by Armando Izzo. Fiorentina failing to make chances count turned out to be the decider in this one, and Schalke 04 would head to Artemio Franchi to try and close it out.

The odd secondary story of this game was the Brazilian showcase being put on by both sides. Talles Magno/Evander/Pedro for Fiorentina and Vinícius Júnior for Schalke 04 were very busy in this game with all of them very visible throughout the game. Unfortunately for Pedro he was very visibly having a bad day shooting, but his name still came up quite a bit. Both teams played well, but in the end Schalke 04 was able to make something of the chances they were given. Being down 1-0 isn’t that bad for Fiorentina, but failing to score on the road makes them very vulnerable if Schalke 04 manages to score at Artemio Franchi.



A full week of Montella fuming around the training complex must have had an impact on the second squad, after two straight 1-0 losses by the senior squad the second squad went to the San Siro and pounded Inter 3-0. Tòfol Montiel, who returned to practice this week, was put on notice as Abdou Fall put on quite a performance with a double on the way to a 9.3 rating and a PoM award. The win was quite comprehensive, which made all the losses to Lazio and the draw to Genoa even more frustrating. Seeing the second squad beat up on Lazio would need to be enough motivation to flip the result on Schalke 04 at home. If I Viola needed any more motivation to be mad at Germans, Bayer Leverkusen gave them everything they needed by offering Montella a job interview a few days before the game. Leverkusen made a bit of a public show of it, but Montella politely declined and voiced his commitment to I Viola.



David Wagner appeared to take a more defensive approach to this tie, deciding that they could hold that 1-0 lead and maybe grab a second on a counter attack. For the most part it worked, but it came down to Fiorentina blowing chances rather than Schalke 04 defending well. I Viola had total control of the first half, but they just couldn’t do anything with it, a 16-3 advantage in shots and 7-0 shots on target still left Fiorentina down 0-1 across both legs. Montella didn’t need to change anything, they just needed to do more with what they were getting. Lyanco was quietly having an excellent game offensively, and would finish the day with (3) chances created an (5) key passes to lead all players. After 63’ of grinding, that felt like 630’ minutes, Fiorentina finally broke through with a goal from Riccardo Orsolini on a textbook Montella goal. Luca Pellegrini would be released down the side by a long ball and he would rush into the box and cross to the back post for Orsolini, he could have walked it in with how well it was placed.

If the game had been frantic prior to the goal, it took it to 11 afterwards. Smelling blood, and tied 1-1, Fiorentina put Schalke 04’s resolve to defend to the test. At 84’ Talles Magno sent a shot in that hit the inside of the far post and bounced nearly parallel to the goal before going back out off a Schalke 04 defender. Stoppage time expired and extra time was on the menu as both teams, clearly exhausted, would have one more chance to avoid penalties. It only took five minutes for Fiorentina to get the opening they desperately needed, Orsolini would pass the ball into the penalty area for the endline only to have the ball intercepted by Weston McKennie. For a moment it looked as though Fiorentina might be stuck, but McKennie found a cluster of purple kits in front of him and he turned to pass the ball back to Alexander Nübel in goal. The moment of indecision was enough for Marco Benassi to muscle in from behind, take the ball, and fire it nearly point blank at the confused Nübel to put I Viola up 2-1 on aggregate. If the insanity ended there it wouldn’t have been as entertaining, as the second period of extra time started Filip Jagiello suffered a thigh injury but had to stay on the field. With all of Fiorentina’s subs used up Jagiello had to limp around a 10 yard radius just vaguely trying to be more useful than a corpse, but Schalke 04 couldn’t make anything out of the situation. The final whistle sent Fiorentina’s bench, along with a few enterprising fans, running onto the pitch to celebrate the win.

An absolutely crazy win would earn Fiorentina another date with Tottenham in the Quarter Final, a rough draw but possibly something they can overcome. They managed to pull it off before, perhaps Montella has another surprise left. The Europe League continues to be clogged with Italian teams as Juventus, Inter, and Lazio are still alive. The draw for the Semifinal was not kind to Fiorentina as they will face the winner of Juventus-Manchester United if they manage to get past Spurs. Nobody ever said this would be easy.



The win over Schalke 04 was just what Fiorentina needed, following it up with a 2-0 win over Torino and looking like a team on a mission. Things may have gotten a little easier domestically as Antonio Conte was sacked by Inter after a 1-1 draw with Young Boys would boot them out of the Europe League 4-3 on aggregate. Montella will no doubt miss having a screaming partner at least twice a year, but he won’t miss having to face him on the pitch.

Pelayo Morilla, having a really solid month, would be handed a great opportunity as Evander would pull his hamstring in practice. The two week absence would open the door for the mercurial Spaniard who offers more of a scoring threat from CAM. After giving up a goal to Orsolini in the first minute It didn’t take long in this game for Frosinone to out themselves as sloppy and unprepared. They opened the game by killing themselves by playing through balls wide to nobody which allowed Fiorentina’s wingbacks to scoop them up and start an attack. Pedro would score easily at 5’ and 14’ and the rout was on. Frosinone did manage to score on their only shot of the first half, not a good look for Montella, but Alessandro Salvi would make it 4-1 with an own goal to close out the first half. Benassi would make it 5-1 just after halftime as everyone in purple would finish with a rating of at least 7.1 including (2) at 9.0 or higher. An easy win in a position where Fiorentina would have lost at their worst last year was a good sign heading into the final stretch of the season.

Pedro’s double would help him recover from a slower than usual start and get him to (20) on the season. He still has a way to go as Ronaldo is absolutely dominating the league with (26), Ciro Immobile is right behind him with (22) as Pedro languishes in 5th with (12) in Serie A. Ronaldo would have a double of his own in Juventus’ surprise 2-2 draw with Cittadella to put them a single point back of Fiorentina in 2nd.

A really decent crop of results. Well done on outdoing Schalke in the end.

Fiorentina aren’t there yet when it comes to elite recruiting and facilities, but I Viola are certainly working toward it. Management has made a commitment to improving youth recruiting and put more funding into improving the youth facilities. The recent transfer window showed management’s commitment to adding Italian talent, General Manager Daniele Pradè and Technical Director Mattia Grimaldi have been working hard to stock the organization with future talent. The influx of players likely points to a shedding of lesser talents and players over 18 who likely don’t have a future in the senior squad.

The buying of youth players looks like a smart move this year as Fiorentina’s incoming class isn’t particularly good or noteworthy. Nobody here jumps to the top of the prospects rankings thanks to the players added last year and through transfers, but a few of them have a shot at developing into senior squad players. Three non-Italian players came in, but none of them ended up being signed.

Andrea Corallo (LB - Italy) : A solid signing for Montella’s stockpile of attacking wingbacks. High flair, good pace and acceleration, and solid tackling set up a good foundation for a potential senior squad player. His size (6’-0”) at a young age has helped him to high ratings in determination, bravery, and aggression so scouts aren’t too worried about pushing him against better competition. He needs work in attack, he will need to improve his crossing and passing if he’s ever going to make it above the U-18 squad. As Fiorentina is starting to clog their ranks of wingbacks it’s likely the club will be aggressive about trying to loan him out, even with his weaknesses he’s two-footed so being able to play either side will help find him a loan.

Walter De Stefano (RW/CAM - Italy) : Yet another pacey winger with high flair who is a natural at two Montella positions (inside forward and attacking midfielder). Probably a long way off, maybe squad player ceiling, but scouts are impressed with his dedication and feel he could work himself into better player.

Roberto Mazzola (RB - Italy) : Another wing back that Montella can throw on the pile, unfortunately for Mazzola he’s going to need to start at the bottom. While he does have some of the physical attributes Fiorentina are hunting for (excellent pace and acceleration) to go with good passing and ball handling skills, he doesn’t stack up well against the upper tier of players.


Fiorentina’s investment in youth is already paying dividends with a noticeable uptick in performance the emergence of three potential stars. The across the board upgrade that started last year has helped propel both levels into league winning form. The U-20 squad had a great year, topping Juventus U-20 to take the top U-20 division. Things look good for this trend to continue, but without senior level success it won’t mean all that much. The U-18 squad won the U-18 Group B, though the other teams involved don’t include the bigger clubs (Juventus, Milan, Inter, Lazio, Napoli) so it’s harder to compare how they stack up.

In terms of individual performance there are two familiar names and one enormous surprise rising to the top of the ranks. The most familiar to Fiorentina fans is LB Florentino Firenze who already has (5) senior appearances, (2) goals, and a PoM to his name. Firenze managed to sneak into the senior squad thanks to the poor level of competition, but he has shown that he belongs and will likely get serious consideration for a permanent move next year. The other player living up to the hype so far is CB Roberto Cannata who came over for a now laughable £100K from Lastrigiana. Cannata has shown the kind of speed, poise, and tactical knowledge that would have him in the senior squad if it wasn’t for the depth Montella has built there. He’s the first of the new crop to play internationally, getting called up for Italy’s U-21 side in the Euro Cup qualifications, and he should be representing Italy on a regular basis pretty soon. The huge surprise is RB Federico Marino, who came over from Urbino on a free transfer, he’s starting to look like serious competition for Pol Lirola on the senior squad. It seems silly now to think that his higher than normal salary demands caused Urbino to waffle on signing him to a contract, these are the kinds of breaks Montella is going to need if he’s going to make Fiorentina into a consistent winner.

Certainly some encouraging signs with the success of the Under 20's.

While the participants wouldn’t be counted among Europe’s giants, at least one of them, this game was about the best the Europa League could hope for in terms of excitement. I Viola fans turned up in London in droves, turning the area around Tottenham Hotspur Stadium into a sea of purple clad chippy Italians ready to watch their team play in one of Europe’s newest venues. The fact that these two met in group play, splitting the series with two crazy shootouts (4-2 to Spurs, 6-1 to Fiorentina), added an extra layer of media content to hype up the fixture. Roberto Martinez and Vincenzo Montella renewed their verbal hostilities, each making numerous appearances on TV to sarcastically talk up their opponent.

Only one manager got to enjoy this game, and it wasn’t Martinez. Right away Fiorentina managed to pressure Spurs’ back line and started to feast on backpasses, Pedro was starting to lick his chops early. Despite the mounting problem Spurs found themselves the victim of an incredible series of events that ended with Talles Magno putting Fiorentina up 1-0 after just 11’. Pedro tried to cross from the right side of the box, but his pass was immediately blocked and sent toward the corner flag where Pol Lirola managed to stop it from going out. His cross into the box hit Riccardo Orsolini in the back of the head as Ben Davies pushed him in the back at the near post, it glanced over Hugo Lloris and Mário Fernandes to find Magno alone at the far post. Martinez would spend most of the first half in the technical area yelling at his team like they were children, Fiorentina’s press was rushing passes that ended up getting scooped up by Fiorentina’s midfielders and sent back as an attack. One of them, deeper in Fiorentina territory released Orsolini rushing downfield with Pedro in a two-on-two that turned into a one-on-zero when Orsolini managed to thread a pass between the centerbacks and give Pedro the whole left side of the goal to score on. Federico Bernardeschi, having a great day, would steal a goal from Harry Kane at 42’ to salvage something but Spurs were lucky to get that.

I Viola would keep things up, but Kane would not go away. Despite the CB upgrade Montella went through Kane looked 5 yards offsides every time he was the target of a long pass and practically lived the game in a never ending one-on-one with Bartłomiej Drągowski who was sharp enough to block the shots or keep him from shooting. The final whistle blew for a big win, putting Spurs in a position where they would need to win by (2) at Artemio Franchi. Things got more testy after the game when Martinez accused Fiorentina of trying to hurt his players, specifically Dele Alli who went off injured late in the game, but Montella wasn’t interested.





The return leg of this fixture would see Fiorentina coming in with their heads held high, even being without Lirola and Talles Magno through suspensions wouldn’t be able to bring Montella down. A 4-0 win against Bologna in the Appennino Derby would be paired with Lazio losing 2-1 to Milan, the door to a league title run was opening up and at this rate Fiorentina might just step through it.

That level of confidence would show almost immediately on the field as Martinez switched to a 5-2-3 and it didn’t go well at all. It had its intended effect, the extra width on the back line slowed down Fiorentina’s attacks a bit, but it accomplished it at the cost of their own attack. Down 2-1 and needing (2) away goals, this sacrifice seemed ill conceived. Martinez also made the mistake of ceding the center of the midfield to Fiorentina, with Marco Benassi/Erick Pulgar/Evander controlling the game. Spurs looked like a team up 2-1 instead of trailing, they were back on their heels all game and barely managed to take shots. Their best opportunity was a free kick that was headed in by Kane, but for once he was actually offsides and VAR wiped it out.

With Spurs already playing poorly, in the span of three minutes Tanguy Ndombele officially killed any chance of turning this game around. He was first booked at 64’ and managed to get booked again at 67’, both times for aggressive tackles on Evander that sent him flying. It didn’t even take much theatrics to get Ndombele sent off on the second one, from that point on even Martinez seemed resigned to being eliminated.

The day would end up being terrible for every other Italian team, leaving Fiorentina alone in the competition. PAOK would pound Lazio 3-0, flipping a 2-0 deficit, and Manchester United would send Juventus packing after a 2-0 win that went to penalties that didn’t go Juventus’ way. While Fiorentina fans could enjoy some schadenfreude upon their exit, the downside would be facing another English giant in Manchester United. You could almost hear the media giggling with glee over this fixture, Federico Chiesa coming back to face Fiorentina would be the story everywhere you looked. Young Boys would draw 2-2 with Sevilla to advance 3-2 on aggregate, setting up a PAOK-Young Boys semifinal on the other side of the bracket.



After Fiorentina’s recent run of results this game would be quite mouth-watering, on top of that there would be serious title implications as the Top 4 all close in on a very tight race. I Viola would be a bit tired coming off a win over Tottenham, either from playing recently or being out celebrating, and Napoli would have the advantage when it came to fitness.

Just about all year Montella’s men have managed to avoid the random let downs that hurt them so badly, today was not that day. At least there is some comfort in tripping up against a top team instead of Genoa, but at this juncture of the season it might be just as bad if not worse. Montella came into this game a little cautiously, favoring a more balanced approach against a better team, and for the most part it worked well in the first half as they controlled the midfield and enjoyed a possession advantage. The beginning of the second half is when things went wrong, Luca Pellegrini would put a rather firm tackle on Dries Mertens at 48’ that sent the Belgian sailing into the ad boards along the sideline. The straight red was quick and decisive, and despite Montella’s protest it was hard to say he didn’t deserve to be sent off. Pedro came off, Luca Ranieri took his place, and Fiorentina were going to need to survive half a game in their 4-2-3.

Fiorentina has done well in their 4-2-3, but it was becoming obvious that Napoli had the upper hand and the players to make it count. The last 20’ of the game became a mess for Montella, as soon as Fabián scored at 70’ on a sad shot it seemed the day was not Fiorentina’s. His shot from the top of the box was weak and bounced just in front of Drągowski’s hand, sneaking in just over it and tucking inside the left post. Not long after that Benassi started to limp, making it until 81’ before falling to the ground with a pulled hamstring. I Viola looked flat and defeated by that point, and the final whistle was a mercy they didn’t deserve.





If Chiesa was expecting a warm welcome, he was very disappointed. The loss to Napoli left fans pretty sour, even a 4-2 win over Brescia didn’t do much to help. The win would put Fiorentina in 4th, just (2) points back of Lazio in 1st with (4) games left to play, so the team was mostly focused on a strong finish to Serie A. Manchester United would be one of the best teams Fiorentina has faced all year, they eliminated Juventus in the previous round so you could make the argument they are the best. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has done a solid job rebuilding the club, and landing Chiesa has been a big part of that.

“They are a big club, they have money, we cannot buy our way through this kind of fixture” said Montella when asked about the gulf in talent between United and Fiorentina.

Everyone knew this game would be brutal, the strength of Fiorentina’s squad would look like a weakness up against United’s midfield. Paul Pogba and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic are so much better than Filip Jagiello and Pulgar so Montella would need to get creative if they were going to survive this game. Luckily for Fiorentina Solskjaer favored a more defensive counter attacking approach, so Montella would have the opportunity to be on the ball and attack often enough to try and make a game of this. It only took 20’ for United to take the lead and summon a shower of whistles for Chiesa. Chiesa would send a long ball from midfield all the way to the other flank in the box and find Anthony Martial running free for what looked like an easy score. The only thing worse would have been if Chiesa had put it in himself.

After going up 1-0 on the road Solskjaer was content to sit back and defend. Old Trafford would not be the scene for an epic comeback, so I Viola would need to find a way to deal with Pogba and Milinkovic-Savic. At 63’ Solskjaer’s approach would come back to bite him and Montella would look like a tactical wizard, Fiorentina’s press would finally break United’s back line and open up an attack deep in their own third. A rushed pass by Nacho would land at Jagiello’s feet, he would find Pulgar and quickly get the ball out wide to Lirola to avoid United’s world class midfield. A cross into the box would bounce around a bit before Magno would send it in at the far post, I Viola had numbers and speed on their side and now they were even at 1-1. As it turned out they were lucky to salvage a draw from this game, it was abundantly clear that United were a better team but they were comfortable waiting to head back to Old Trafford. A trip to the Theater of Dreams was more likely to be like walking into a buzz saw.

It's extremely close at the top of Serie A. Massive advancements on last season's performance are obvious though in the points tally and current league position.

Well done on beating Spurs. Best of luck in the second-leg against United.

The final month of the season put an unpleasant decision before Vincenzo Montella, the choice between a run at their first Serie A title or a run at the Europa League final. With Udinese in the relegation zone Montella tried to push off that choice just a little longer by using the second squad, they were going to take one more swing at Manchester United in their next game before being completely focused on the league.

The gamble worked well as Fiorentina rushed out to a 2-0 lead in the first half despite Udinese putting up a good fight. On paper the hosts did well, but I Viola were just too much for them. The score was already 3-0 when Gaetano Castrovilli scored an absolutely insane goal at 56’ that was an excellent example of the kind of hell Fiorentina’s press can be. After collecting the ball in goal Juan Musso charged forward to distribute the ball out and Castrovilli stayed on him to slow their response. Musso seemed to panic in that moment and must have changed his mind as to who he was going to kick it to, but for some reason he decided to kick it toward someone that Castrovilli was blocking off. An alert Castrovilli stuck his foot out and the clearance struck him squarely and headed right back into the net.



Fiorentina would cruise to an easy win with Pelayo Morilla’s hat trick earning him a PoM award, Morilla has been excellent lately with (5) goals in his last two games. The win would clinch a Top 4 spot and a place in the Champions League along with setting a team record for wins and total points. While all of that was very exciting the biggest news would come later in the day as Parma defeated Lazio 4-2 to open up the title race. Juventus, Napoli, and Fiorentina were now in the driver's seat and things were getting very tense.



Let’s look at the bright side; at least Fiorentina wet the bed in a game they were picked to lose instead of Serie A. Montella selected his first squad, just a single game away from the Europa League final seemed like a good time to take a shot and if they lost they would have ample time to recover for the remainder of the league.

It took 7’ for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side to break the game open, and they didn’t stop there. Marcus Rashford scored first on a long ball from United’s third, Aaron Wan-Bissaka found him a few yards beyond Lyanco and he wasn’t going to be caught. It only took Rashford 15’ to tally a hat-trick, putting the hosts up 3-0 at 22’ and basically shutting the door on Fiorentina’s hopes. The section of purple in attendance had little to cheer about, but the came alive with whistles when Federico Chiesa scored at 35’. Luckily he had the sense to avoid celebrating too much, the 4-0 first half crushed I Viola and by the time everyone went into the tunnel the game was essentially over.



Evander would score late to salvage some respect, but the loss was complete and set the pecking order if there was any doubt. Manchester United would now face Young Boys in the final after they lost 4-3 to PAOK (4-4 aggregate) but advanced on away goals.



A date with Roma would represent a dizzying prospect as kickoff approached. Earlier games put Fiorentina in a position nobody could have predicted before the season, and a win today would bring them a step closer to winning their first Scudetto. Napoli would draw 0-0 with Udinese prior to the game, essentially eliminating them from winning the league if all of the others in the hunt won their final games. Juventus would draw 1-1 with Atalanta, leaving the league to Fiorentina if they could win their final two games. Beating Sampdoria 4-0 after getting beaten up by Manchester United helped get I Viola back on track, but getting through Roma and Milan would be much harder.

It’s hard to tell if Arsene Wenger figured out something or if Fiorentina was crushed by the weight of expectations, but this was just about literally the worst time to put in a flat performance. Roma put in a solid combined effort, reducing Fiorentina’s usually potent offense while avoiding their suffocating defense and their way to a tense draw. An indication of how well Roma’s attack was working was the number of bookings in Fiorentina’s back line, literally the entire back line and both deeper lying midfielders earned bookings. Perhaps Montella should have been more positive, rather than taking a balanced approach against a more talented team, but whatever happened the damage was done. At one point Roma’s Justin Kluivert nearly scored, in fact they peeled off and started to celebrate, but Bartłomiej Drągowski was alert and snatched the ball before it could go completely over the line. Roma fans had a good laugh at the result, but Montella would head home fuming about a game they should have been able to win.

While the draw would be very disappointing, it wouldn’t be fatal to Fiorentina’s title hopes. In fact, thanks to other results, it would keep them in 1st but now a win against Milan was required unless everyone else lost. The chances of Juventus, Napoli, and Lazio losing on the same day are not good.



A game that will haunt Fiorentina for decades to come. Period. Montella will need to work hard to live this day down, and his players will likely suffer under the same yoke as well. Artemio Franchi, Viale Manfredo Fanti, and Viale Ferruccio Valcareggi were an absolute mess as people started flooding the streets early in the morning. Houses for blocks around the stadium were adorned with purple flags, banners, and really anything purple people could get their hands on. The title was just about literally in Montella’s hands, all Fiorentina needed to do was win this game and the “about” would vanish.

Stefano Piolo must have watched the Roma game a thousand times, or maybe Montella didn’t learn from it. Milan came out in a matching 4-2-3-1 formation, and Montella was likely a little too conservative coming up against a more talented team, whatever it was made for a repeat of the Roma game. Just 13’ in disaster struck when Milan managed to snap a goal from a situation that would have been a goal kick 99% of the time. Ismaël Bennacer would send a cross into the box from wide left beyond the box, looking to hit Krzysztof Piatek, but the ball was a little too long and bounced harmlessly and headed for the end line just to the right of the post. Suso was covering the back post and managed to get to the ball just as it was about to go over and put a foot on it to send it back into the field of play, Drągowski was all over it but the ball bounced off his chest and headed back toward the center of the goal area. He dove to catch it but couldn’t reach it, Piatek was more than happy to tap it into an empty next for a 1-0 lead. It didn’t last long as Riccardo Orsolini fed Pedro for a goal at 23’ that kept the title a possibility, but it felt like fate was not in their favor.

The game dragged on much like the Roma one, but the last 10’ was fraught with controversy and stress. The first came after Benassi was booked a few yards outside the box, giving Milan a free kick in a dangerous area. Suso’s kick curled into the box and landed harmlessly on the far side, but Mattia Caldara was sitting on the ground at Lyanco’s feet with his arms outstretched in an appeal that he was fouled. VAR was used to determine that he had been fouled and Piatek would be given another chance to kill I Viola’s season, but Drągowski was all over it again and managed to guess correctly and block the attempt. The last few minutes of the game were absolute chaos, starting at 88’ when Fiorentina scored but VAR took it away because Talles Magno was offsides. To say Montella was furious would be an understatement, Erick Pulgar was on a free kick wide right outside the box and smartly saw that Milan was positioned with everyone inside the box. He passed the ball back across the middle to an unmarked Evader at the top of the arc who took a shot that made its way through the crowd and went in. The celebration was cut short and VAR determined that Magno had touched the ball, Magno and Orsolini were well offsides as Milan pushed up to stop Evander. Montella needed to be restrained by his staff, the review was suspect at best. Fiorentina started playing on fast forward, pressing to win the league, and at 90+3’ they had another opportunity that may have killed Montella. Luca Pellegrini sent a cross into the box from just outside headed to the far post, but nobody was there and Ricardo Rodríguez was forced to get there and box out Orsolini to keep him from getting a shot off, his touch was a little heavy and he left the ball sitting a few steps from anyone in red and black stripes. Pedro, the target of the original cross, swooped in and poked the ball into the goal just before Gianluigi Donnarumma or Caldara could get there and Artemio Franchi exploded. That explosion of joy turned into rage just as quickly as Daniele Doveri blew the whistle and signaled that Pedro was offsides. Montella was screaming in the ear of the ref through the final whistle, and he had plenty to say after the game. The decision was apparently made because Pedro was offsides on the initial pass by Pellegrini and never established himself as onsides prior to poking the ball in, he remained offsides by the slightest of margins when Rodríguez touched it and that is what killed Fiorentina’s chance at their first scudetto.

To pour more salt in the wound Juventus would win 3-1 over Bologna to finish off a domestic treble. The come so close and have Juventus walk away with it is truly a bitter end to an incredible season, and after all the final day theatrics the draw would push Fiorentina to 4th with (2) points separating 1st and 4th.

That is extremely sore. A bitter pill to swallow... but this season has still been a huge success. Champions League football is set to return to Florence!

2020-03-18 09:15#267741 ScottT : That is extremely sore. A bitter pill to swallow... but this season has still been a huge success. Champions League football is set to return to Florence!

I almost put my fist through the monitor. I only had to win one of those games, and the Milan game felt like FM was trolling me. I reviewed that Pedro offsides like it was the Zupruder film, I'm still not sure why he was called offsides but that is my best guess... it was razor thin.

Being a single win away from earning your first scudetto and finishing with a draw is a bitter pill to swallow, but the silver lining of the situation is that Fiorentina was more than just a ‘Little engine that could’ in a league where they are fairly solid underdogs. The truth of the situation is that this was a pretty good team and they have room to continue improving. One indicator of just how good they were is that Vincenzo Montella managed to guide his team to the top scoring offense AND defense, this does make it even more frustrating to finish fourth but with the players on hand it points to the possibility of better things to come. Pedro is the closest thing they have to a superstar, and without a Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala, or Lautaro Martinez on the roster it’s pretty impressive for Montella to have achieved so much. Their reward for playing so well is a ticket to the Champions League and all the financial advantages that brings with it along with a massive jump in club ranking from 76th to 50th.

As far as awards go I Viola did pretty well, and few were surprised by who won. Bartłomiej Drągowski would take home the Serie A best GK award thanks to his (25) shutouts, crushing Fiorentina’s previous record of (11), and just generally being one of if not the most solid GK in the league. Pol Lirola would also take home the top defender award after having a season that acted like a dinner bell for some of Europe’s top teams, he’s been very solid at RB and Montella will do well to keep him. Evander would win the Serie A Best Young Player Award while having a quietly solid season, yet another shrewd purchase by Montella that help I Viola reach the top of the table.



Signs of better things to come are all over the place in Fiorentina’s youth team after Daniele Pradè spent so much on improving the level of talent on hand. Few thought it would improve so quickly, but that is also proof of how bad the system was before Montella joined. The U-20 squad would take home the U-20 Coppa with a stunning 7-1 aggregate win over Juventus, next year could be even more impressive. The U-18 squad enjoyed a domestic double by winning the Group B division and the U-18 Supercoppa Italiana. The future looks bright, now Montella just needs to keep I Viola at the top of the table until it gets here.

There are certainly no superstars at the club, but there are players who work as a collective unit effectively.