I’m fast approaching the halfway point of my first season as Fiorentina manager. This bumper part features SIX matches – including a top-of-the-table duel with Lazio – as we continue our charge towards a top-four finish.
If you haven’t read Part 5 yet, then oh boy, you’ve missed a cracker. Click here if you want to see what happened when I had my first major falling-out with one of my players.
FIORENTINA vs ATALANTA (Serie A, Match 14)
Despite finishing in the top seven for the past two seasons, Atalanta were struggling to live up to heightened expectations this time. The Bergamo club had drawn almost half their matches and were at risk of slipping into a relegation battle if they weren’t careful.
As for us, we were determined to prove a point after our shocking display at Parma. Jordan Veretout looked particularly eager to show what he was capable of. Upon receiving the ball from Christian Nørgaard in Atalanta’s penalty arc, Veretout proceeded to hammer a first-time strike in off the far post!
Our versatile French midfielder continued to make mere mortals of La Dea midway through the half. After spraying the ball out wide to Marko Pjaca, the Croatian forward cut it across for Giovanni Simeone to meet it with a typically lethal finish. That second goal might not have been our last of the half had Gérson been more clinical.
The match was effectively killed off four minutes into the second half, and no prizes for guessing who scored it. Franco-Danish relations received another huge boost when Veretout unleashed another howitzer from Nørgaard’s square ball, this time from 25 yards out! Poor old Etrit Berisha in the Atalanta goal was absolutely helpless!
Nørgaard was in such fine nick that he almost finished with a hat-trick of assists… well, kind of. In the 58th minute, a mindless back-pass into our own box was cut out by Duván Zapata. Had Lafont not reacted quickly enough to push the Colombian striker’s shot away, Atalanta could well have got back in contention.
Even so, I was happy enough with a 3-0 win – our biggest of the season. I even gave Federico Ceccherini a late run-out, ‘cos I’m a nice bloke who doesn’t hold grudges against anyone.
We were now back up into 2nd, as Torino had lost at Napoli, and Milan very nearly suffered the same fate at Chievo. Having beaten Cagliari 4-1 a week earlier, Juventus inflicted the same punishment on Empoli to continue their recent resurgence.
As for Lazio, they won by a single goal at Bologna to stay three points clear. A week later, we returned to the Olimpico – the setting for our hard-fought win against Roma in November – to confront the Biancocelesti.
LAZIO vs FIORENTINA (Serie A, Match 15)
This meeting between 1st and 2nd pitted us against one of Europe’s most coveted central midfielders. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic had one of the highest average ratings in Serie A, but the tireless Serbian would be upstaged by his team’s top goalscorer.
Lazio attacked relentlessly from the outset, and they took less than two minutes to open the scoring. Luis Alberto fired Adam Marusic’s cross against the post, but the inaptly-named Ciro Immobile took advantage of some hesitant Viola defending to bury the rebound.
Simone Inzaghi’s team continued to take the game to us in the first period. We didn’t exactly help our cause with some poor tackling, and Marco Benassi marked his return from suspension by adding another yellow card to his growing collection.
It wasn’t until half-time was almost upon us that we managed to launch an attack. Veretout perhaps thought he was still playing Atalanta when he hammered a square pass from Benassi goalwards. Jordan wasn’t quite on target this time, as his shot came back off the post. The excellent Bastos then slid the loose ball away before Gio could convert the follow-up.
Bryan Dabo replaced Benassi at the break, and he forced Lazio keeper Thomas Strakosha into his first (and only) save six minutes after the resumption. Despite adopting a more direct approach (and utilising Kevin Mirallas as a right-winger), we just could not break apart a stubborn defence that was stastically the best in Serie A.
In the end, a 1-0 defeat against a significantly superior Lazio side was perhaps the best we could hope for. I was thankful that Lafont saved a couple of shots from Milinkovic-Savic after the hour mark, else our goal difference would have taken another big hit.
Lazio’s win saw them stretch their lead to four points. Napoli were now in 2nd position, having defeated Milan by a single Dries Mertens goal. We dropped to 3rd, though a clutch of sides were now breathing down our necks, including a Juventus side who’d put on another four-star display at Sampdoria.
With the January transfer window looming large, several players were attracting interest from other clubs. Arsenal were still keen on Federico Chiesa, while Newcastle were targetting Nikola Milenkovic and Leicester were apparently planning a move for Giovanni Simeone. There were also reports of other Premier League teams sniffing around Dabo and right-back Vincent Laurini.
Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain were said to be looking at Benassi, with a view to a big-money January swoop. I’ve made sure he’s not going anywhere… at least not for the time being.
Benassi’s now our joint highest-paid player with Chiesa, but he might not be the only Viola favourite who gets a raise. Other players such as Milenkovic and Simeone have given subtle hints that they might be wanting new deals soon.
FIORENTINA vs CAGLIARI (Serie A, Match 16)
The next visitors to the Artemio Franchi were Cagliari, who narrowly avoided relegation last season. Some encouraging results early in the campaign had kept them clear of the drop zone thus far, though the Sardinians now found themselves on a five-game winless run. By half-time, that looked like stretching to six.
It was full steam ahead for our French ‘traction engine’ in the eighth minute. Valentin Eysseric curled in a fabulous rebound shot after Giovanni Simeone‘s initial shot had been blocked by a Cagliari defender.
The Rossoblu did give us a few scares later on, but we continued to dictate terms. It helped that they had 87-year-old Darijo Srna on the right flank, allowing Eysseric to cause mayhem.
With about five minutes to go, Nørgaard was tripped on the edge of Cagliari’s area by Lucas Castro. The subsequent free-kick was chipped into a crowded box by Mirallas, and Simeone rose highest to flick in our second goal of what was already looking like a comfortable home win.
I now wanted to see my team hammer home their advantage and firmly put the game to bed. Sadly, my continued trust in an out-of-sorts Mirallas was misguided, as he hit the woodwork once in the 58th minute and skimmed it five minutes later.
In pushing for a third goal, we seemed to overexert ourselves. With seven minutes remaining, Leonardo Pavoletti got past Viola skipper Germán Pezzella to collect a long ball from midfielder Artur Ionita and put Cagliari back in the game.
Pavoletti had a name that sounded like a deceased opera superstar, and as the saying kinda goes, it wasn’t over until the fat man sang. Two minutes later, we hit another bum note. Pavoletti outpaced Pezzella again to stab in Alberto Cerri’s low left-wing cross from close range. Another 2-0 lead had gone begging.
Our late collapse could have seen us fall out of the top four if results had gone against us later in the weekend. As it was, only Juventus went ahead of us, thanks to a 2-1 derby win over Torino. While Milan’s 2-0 win at Genoa saw them move level on points with us, Inter only managed a point against Sampdoria.
Meanwhile, the in-form Mertens scored all three goals for 2nd-placed Napoli as they overcame a spirited Sassuolo. They were now within one point of Lazio, who suffered just their second defeat of the season at Parma. I knew exactly how Inzaghi felt.
EMPOLI vs FIORENTINA (Serie A, Match 17)
This next match was the closest thing we had to a local derby. Based 20 kilometres south-west of Florence, Empoli had lived a sporadic existence in Serie A of late. They won Serie B last season, but with just three wins to their name, an early return to the second tier looked increasingly likely.
Empoli’s incompetence was evident in the third minute, when keeper Ivan Provedel was booked for carrying the ball outside his area! Gérson took the free-kick in the ‘D’, curling it over the wall and into the top corner for his first goal of the season!
Gérson’s return to form continued in the 11th minute. The Brazilian enigma cut inside from the right flank and passed to Veretout on the edge of the box. Jordan then did what he does best, hammering in an unstoppable shot for a 2-0 Viola lead!
While Gérson was flying, the fit-again Chiesa floundered upon his return from a broken toe. I gave our vice-captain 70 minutes, in which he did very little, before deciding enough was enough.
By then, Empoli had grabbed a goal back in fortuitous circumstances. Former Italy left-back Luca Antonelli that ricocheted into the net off our unfortunate right-back Kevin Diks. No sniggering at the back.
We now needed to keep our discipline more than ever if the ghosts of Juventus and Cagliari weren’t to return. Gérson clearly didn’t heed my warning, as he picked up a couple of needless late yellow cards. The second – for an off-the-ball trip on Azzurri defender Jacob Rasmussen – forced us to play the final four minutes plus stoppage time with only 10 men.
Thankfully, Empoli couldn’t make the most of their extra player. We held on to all three points, and our longest winless run this season was over.
Thanks to that win, we went into the winter holidays still in 3rd position. Lazio and Napoli consolidated their places in the top two with respective victories over Atalanta and Udinese. Milan forward Samu Castillejo halted Juventus’ hot streak with an injury-time winner at the San Siro, which moved the Rossoneri into 4th.
They say Christmas is a time for giving, and I thought I’d get something particularly nice for one of my favourite players.
Veretout was another who’d recently asked for a new contract, amid reports of a January move to Monaco. Giving him a hefty pay rise put me well over my initial wage budget, but I’m sure it’ll be worth it. A midfielder with Jordan’s spirit and work ethic would’ve been almost impossible to replace.
FIORENTINA vs SAMPDORIA (Serie A, Match 18)
Boxing Day saw us welcome two familiar faces back to the Franchi. Relegation-threatened Sampdoria were under new management, having recently brought in Stefano Pioli – the man I replaced at Fiorentina – to succeed the axed Marco Giampaolo. Pioli’s starting line-up included attacking midfielder Riccardo Saponara, who was on loan from the Viola.
This would be a rough afternoon for our right-backs. Laurini was forced off seven minutes in with a knee ligament injury. Three minutes later, substitute Diks had his face rearranged by the elbow of Samp’s left-back, who was duly dismissed. Júnior Tavares was no angel, and heaven certainly wasn’t missing him.
At the other end, our attackers were frequently frustrated. Cyril Théréau had been given just his third start of the season, but the veteran striker struggled to find the target. Veretout’s laser accuracy from long range was also deserting him for once.
We continued to boss play without finding a way through, but replacing Théréau with Simeone midway through the second half changed our fortunes. After we stretched the Blucerchiati out wide in the 78th minute, Cristiano Biraghi sent a deep cross to Gio, whose lethal header broke the deadlock.
However, we weren’t home and dry yet. An untimely ankle injury for Vítor Hugo – who’d recently complained that he wasn’t getting enough first-team football – meant we had Benassi playing at centre-half for the closing stages. It was just as well that Sampdoria couldn’t rack up a single shot on target all day, allowing us to see out the win with some comfort.
Lazio lost their lead after conceding two Edin Dzeko goals in the capital city derby against Roma. They were usurped by Napoli, whose own 2-0 win over SPAL made it 11 straight victories in all competitions.
Juventus were hot on our heels after making light work of Sassuolo, as were Inter, who defeated AC Milan 2-0 in the other Boxing Day derby to overtake their city rivals. Incredibly, there was still only a six-point gap between 2nd and 7th.
TORINO vs FIORENTINA (Serie A, Match 19)
We reached the midway point of the season by visiting 8th-placed Torino. Il Toro had looked like potential top-four contenders until a run of two points from six games halted their charge.
The first half of this bullfight was very poor, to say the least. We forced a few saves out of Salvatore Sirigu in the Torino goal, but that was about it. The hosts hardly ever looked like scoring themselves, especially with star striker Andrea Belotti playing nowhere near his best form.
Torino were significantly weakened when a couple of midfielders sustained knocks in the second half, while we had our own injury doubt with Mirallas. I substituted him and Fernandes in the 64th minute… and within 10 minutes, their replacements had made all the difference.
Following a quick exchange of passes with Nørgaard, Benassi slipped the ball to Chiesa just inside the penalty area. Chiesa then drove the ball through a small gap between Sirigu and his left-hand post to break home hearts.
Later on, Dabo picked up his fifth booking of the season, which meant a suspension from our next competitive game. The Burkina Faso midfielder cast his disappointment aside in the 88th minute, half-volleying in a byline cross from supersub Chiesa to seal the deal. The Viola had ended 2018 with three wins in a row!
Meanwhile, Napoli’s surge was brought to an unexpected halt at Frosinone, who won just their third match of the season. That meant Lazio regained the lead after Ciro Immobile’s double accounted for Cagliari.
We were now two points off the top, but Juventus and Inter were themselves only a single point behind us. Respective away victories against Udinese and Sassuolo brought pleasing conclusions to what had been a very strong December for both teams.
So Fiorentina head into the mid-term break still in the Champions League places, but now we must beware the so-called ‘second-half slump’. Come back soon for all our January transfer dealings, plus the resumption of our league campaign.
“Forza viol… hang on, somebody’s knocking on my door.
“Oh… hi, Nikola. I suppose you want a new contract as well now, don’t you?”
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