January 2020 was a truly incredible month for Fiorentina – and we only played four competitive matches. We’ve now got NINE to look forward to in a fun-packed February! I don’t think I have it in me to cover them all in one mega-chapter, but I’ll be sure to cover both legs of our Europa League first knockout round match at least.
Also on the horizon in this chapter is the first leg of our Coppa Italia Semi Final, along with a bunch of league matches against lowly opponents. I might have some very encouraging news on the contract front as well…
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
Pietro Pellegri was Serie A’s Under-19s Player of the Month for December, and our loanee striker came close to retaining the accolade in January. That honour was eventually bestowed on another Fiorentina prospect – our future midfield general Sandro Tonali.
Tonali’s half-season loan stint with relegation-battling Cagliari could not have started any better, as he scored on his debut in a home victory over Parma. Another typically spirited performance in losing at Juventus further underlined that the 19-year-old was ready for regular top-flight football. If he can keep this up, then I can’t wait to have him back in the summer.
Another young Viola midfielder with an exceptional future ahead of him was Nicolás Benedetti. He left us for a few weeks at the start of this year, returning to Colombia to help his country’s Under-23s qualify for the Olympic Games tournament which will be staged in Japan later this year.
I was delighted – okay, perhaps not delighted – to hear that Colombia did indeed qualify. In fact, it was Benedetti’s goal in the decisive qualifier against Uruguay that secured their place at the finals. Nicolás will now almost certainly miss the whole of next pre-season to represent his country in Tokyo.
On a less positive note, Abdou Diakhaté‘s year-long loan spell at Empoli was not going to plan. By the end of January, the Senegalese middleman had made just three substitute appearances for the Azzurri. Injuries had played a minor part, but I’d still expected Diakhaté to play a lot more regularly.
I spoke with Empoli boss Aurelio Andreazzoli about this, and he reassured me that Abdou would get more opportunities over the coming months. I sincerely hope he keeps to that promise.
BOLOGNA vs FIORENTINA (Serie A, Match 23)
We opned February with the Appennino Derby against 15th-placed Bologna. Filippo Inzaghi’s Rossoblu were on a run of one win in six games ahead of our visit to the Renato Dall’Ara.
We gave Bologna several tests in the first half, but we were once again guilty of failing to take our chances. Midfielder Riccardo Saponara in particular looked nothing like as effective as he had been during our vain comeback at Inter.
It was the defence that I was most disappointed with, particularly in the 28th minute. Centre-half Nikola Milenkovic could not intercept Bologna midfielder Andrea Poli’s searching ball to Diego Falcinelli, allowing the one-time Viola flop to slam in the opener. The referee needed to check with VAR before confirming the goal.
You might remember that we lost 1-0 at Bologna last year… but there would be no repeat of that. In the 37th minute, Almamy Touré crossed to Valentin Eysseric on the edge of the Bologna box. Although Lukasz Skorupski got a glove to Eysseric’s initial header, he couldn’t keep out the Frenchman’s follow-up, which put us back level.
Valentin didn’t impress me as much when he was booked early in the second half for handball. By the 67th minute, though, he got back in my good books with what proved to be a decisive corner. Milenkovic flicked his delivery across the Bologna goalmouth before the ball deflected in off Rossoblu centre-half Marios Oikonomou.
A fortuitous own goal had edged us ahead, but I wanted another goal just to make sure of victory. Santi Mina wasted an opportunity to wrap up the points three minutes later. Our newest signing’s pot-shot from a Saponara cross whistled just over the bar, keeping him waiting for a maiden Fiorentina goal.
Mina’s miss would thankfully not prove costly. Our class had ultimately told in a relatively even contest, and we returned home with another slender victory in the books.
Torino’s 1-0 defeat at high-flying Inter the following day meant we leapt above them into 6th. Lazio kept a five-point distance between us and themselves in 5th after comfortably seeing off Udinese 4-1, with Luis Alberto netting a hat-trick.
Napoli bounced back from their first defeat to stay top, though they needed to recover from a first-leg deficit before beating Verona 2-1. Title rivals Milan also came through a tough contest, with all four goals in their 3-1 win over Parma coming within the first 15 minutes. Juventus’ 2-1 triumph over Roma completed a clean sweep for the top five.
FIORENTINA vs PESCARA (Coppa Italia, Semi Final – Leg 1)
While we came into the first leg of our Coppa Italia Semi on a high, underdogs Pescara were going through an indifferent run of form. Even with reserve Daniele Padelli keeping goal for an otherwise strong Fiorentina team, I felt confident that we could brush the Delfini aside on home soil and take a strong lead into the rematch.
Yeah… about that. After a few tame attacks failed to produce any goals, we were hit on the break in the 12th minute. Pescara keeper Vincenzo Fiorillo pumped the ball long to Harlem Gnohere, whose drilled cross went to the last place we wanted – the feet of his strike partner Brayan Perea. A low shot was slammed past Padelli, and we were already behind.
Brayan could’ve left me braying with anger again later on. Fiorentina captain Germán Pezzella lost track of the Colombian in the 23rd minute and was relieved to see him blast Gastón Brugman’s through-ball wide. Perea’s next effort three minutes later was pushed behind by Padelli, but his early strike remained the difference at the break.
Having given Fiorillo little to worry about in the first half, our attackers returned for the second with my harsh words still ringing in their ears. Vice-skipper Federico Chiesa almost equalised from a deflected Cristiano Biraghi corner in the 50th minute, but Fiorillo stretched to keep it out of his goal.
Better was to come in the 61st minute. Biraghi’s throw deep in Pescara was drilled across the outside of the penalty area by playmaker Christian Nørgaard to box-to-box midfielder Bryan Dabo. After taking some time to control the pass, Dabo calmly stroked it beyond Fiorillo’s low dive and restored parity.
The match remained delicately-poised in the closing stages, when I gambled on subbing Milenkovic off to give 20-year-old defender Giorgos Antzoulas a competitive debut. Despite having a rookie at the heart of our backline, it was Pescara’s defence that would see more action in the closing moments.
With nine minutes to play, Chiesa crafted a delightful cross for striker Pietro Pellegri to nod in the goal that put us 2-1 up. The pair were at it again a couple of minutes later, with Pietro running onto another exquisite delivery by our vice-captain before thundering home his second strike. With that, a 3-1 first-leg lead was secured, and we moved closer to the Coppa Italia Final!
Napoli and Inter were contesting the second Semi Final, and it was the Partenopei who held the advantage after 90 minutes. A 3-1 victory at the San Paolo put Napoli firmly on course for their first Final since 2014, when they lifted the trophy after beating… Fiorentina.
FIORENTINA vs EMPOLI (Serie A, Match 24)
Empoli had spent most of the season in the Serie A relegation zone, but a recent upturn in form had seen them climb up to 15th place. They hoped to continue their ascent at the Artemio Franchi – and for the first half-hour at least, they certainly held their own.
Empoli withstood several early attacks and even came close to scoring against the run of play in the 24th minute, when Rade Krunic sent a half-volley inches wide. Eight minutes later, though, we made the breakthrough. Mina got his Viola career up and running with a clinical header from Maximiliano Olivera‘s left-wing cross.
The visitors then started to defend in numbers to try and prevent us from running riot. Goalkeeper Ivan Provedel showed great fortitude to keep out shots from midfielders Benedetti – now back from his exploits in South America – and Dabo before the break.
Sadly, Dabo’s game would be ended very early in the second half, when he suffered a serious hamstring injury. 17-year-old Emil Antonsen replaced him for his senior debut, and he didn’t disgrace himself, with only the woodwork denying him a dream goal in the 63rd minute.
We’d already found the net twice more by then. On 52 minutes, a cross from Kevin Diks evaded a crowd of Empoli defenders before Eysseric stabbed in his 10th goal of the season. The much-maligned Luciano Vietto got his first shortly afterwards, prodding in another sumptuous Olivera delivery at the back stick for 3-0.
The Azzurri pulled one goal back in the 56th minute. Alban Lafont could only push wing-back Diogo Dalot’s angled shot to the feet of striker Antonino La Gumina, whose close-range tap-in put the outcome back in some doubt.
We managed to avoid total capitulation and secure the win, though not before conceding a second goal in injury time. There wasn’t much our stand-in captain Vítor Hugo could do about it, as Empoli defender Jacob Rasmussen’s header from Leonardo Capezzi’s corner deflected in off the Brazilian’s chest.
The championship lead changed hands again, with Napoli’s 2-0 reverse at Torino allowing Milan to overtake them by ending Juventus’ eight-match unbeaten league run. Juve subsequently conceded 3rd place to Inter, who put on a five-star display at Udinese.
Now, you’re probably wondering how bad Dabo’s injury turned out to be. Here’s how bad it was:
And this was not long after we had lost Federico Ceccherini for two months. I guess our ‘London buses’ approach to long-term injuries was making me feel a little more at home, at least.
FIORENTINA vs CSKA MOSCOW (Europa League, Round of 32 – Leg 1)
All the big guns (minus Dabo) were back in action when we continued our expedition in UEFA’s Thursday tournament. CSKA Moscow arrived in Florence as formidable opposition, so a home victory was of paramount performance to us before the rematch in Russia.
We got off to a flyer, thanks to Vítor Hugo, who followed his fluky own goal against Empoli with a similar goal at the right end! It began with him inadvertently blocking captain Pezzella’s header from a Domenico Berardi corner on the goal line. Nørgaard unleashed a volley from the rebound, which ricocheted off visiting striker Fedor Chalov and then Vítor before eventually finding the net!
Scoring a second goal by more conventional means proved to be trickier. Igor Akinfeev – who had seemingly kept goal for Russia since Lev Yashin retired – thwarted a couple of early attempts from Pellegri before also keeping Berardi and Chiesa off the scoresheet.
CSKA attacked only rarely, but when they did in the 30th minute, they were clinical. Right-back Mário Fernandes weighted a cross to the far post for his near-namesake Abel Hernández to nod in an equaliser. The Army Men stormed our compound again just before half-time, but Lafont somehow prevented attacking midfielder Mauricio Pereyra from putting them ahead.
Alban’s save would be a critical one, as another Frenchman would restore our advantage 12 minutes into the second period. Jordan Veretout momentarily stopped moaning about not getting a transfer to Monaco when the midfielder let rip with a vicious drive from Biraghi’s square ball. Akinfeev was left flat-footed, and we were 2-1 up.
We took full control of the tie in the 72nd minute. After Hernández had upended Touré, Eysseric swung in a free-kick to the far post. Pellegri flicked it back across goal for Chiesa to turn it in, and it was 3-1… for about three minutes.
Eysseric effectively wrapped up the win when he ran onto a Pellegri pass and curled it beyond Akinfeev from 20 yards out. This was very much men against boys – literally. CSKA coach Mircea Lucescu’s decision to field a very raw 15-year-old – Sergey Garaev – in the centre of his defence was unsurprisingly backfiring.
We then eased off significantly, conserving energy for later matches. That allowed the Russians to nab a second goal in stoppage time, with Chalov driving in Hernández’ weighted pass to reduce our first-leg advantage to 4-2.
CSKA’s late goal had the potential to be more than a consolation. It meant that a 2-0 or 3-1 defeat in Moscow – or any loss by three goals – would put us out of the competition. We would need to be on our guard to make sure we didn’t throw a great opportunity away.
NEW CONTRACTS
Three senior players committed their futures to Fiorentina in February. Vítor Hugo was first to agree terms to a new contract, with the Brazilian centre-half signing a €50,000-per-week deal until 2024.
Vítor hadn’t specifically asked me for a new contract beforehand, though another of our South American contingent had. Less than a year after moving to Florence from Colombia, Benedetti was complaining that he wasn’t being paid enough. He didn’t take particularly kindly to me telling him to shut up because he still had three years left on his new deal.
When that conversation ended acrimoniously, I had a look at Nicolás’ contract, and I realised he had a point. €9,000 was a pitiful weekly wage for a midfielder with his creative abilities, so I apologised and offered him a three-fold pay-rise, along with a one-year extension.
Last, but not least, came the news that every Fiorentina tifoso wanted to read:
Contract negotiations with Chiesa were rather stressful, but with some incentivising, I managed to get his €140,000-per-week demands down to a more modest €100,000. That still made Federico our highest-paid player by a considerable margin, but if it’s enough to prevent our wing wizard from being lured to London or Paris, that’s the price I’ll pay.
I’m only too aware that Chiesa’s new deal will make some of our other stars envious, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few more requests come in over the next few weeks. Expect a few moans and groans if some lads don’t get their own way.
[Checks phone] Hmm… looks like Domenico Berardi wants to speak to me for some reason.
CHIEVO vs FIORENTINA (Serie A, Match 25)
Having won five games on a trot, confidence was high as we arrived in Verona to face a Chievo team that was fighting what appeared to be a losing battle against relegation. This was their first match under Marco Giampaolo’s management, with the former Sampdoria chief having recently replaced the short-reigning Davide Nicola.
Giampaolo deployed a 4-4-2 narrow diamond – one of my go-to formations in previous FMs, but a nightmare for my Fiorentina team here. Though I hoped to make the most of our pace and technique out wide, a packed Chievo midfield made that easier said than done.
Following an opening half-hour in which we missed the target far more regularly than we tested goalkeeper Andrea Seculin, Chievo caught our defence napping in the 31st minute. Olivera had pushed too high to intercept Fabio Depaoli’s long ball down the line to Manolo Gabbiadini. That allowed the Southampton reject to put a cross into the box, where Polish poacher Mariusz Stepinski stepped past Milenkovic for an easy tap-in.
I was still seething at half-time, and the man who bore the brunt of my dressing-room dressing-down was Veretout. The midfielder appeared to be daydreaming of rubbing shoulders with Lewis Hamilton in Monaco, so I gave him a reality check by bringing Nørgaard on in his position for the restart.
I would make another big change in the 62nd minute, with Chiesa coming on for an ineffective Mina. Stepinski had almost sent Chievo 2-0 up, but his failure to convert Gabbiadini’s cross after mistimed interception from Milenkovic was not the Clivensi’s worst howler. That came five minutes later from Gabbiadini, who hit the crossbar after wing-back Pawel Jaroszynski had sent him clean through.
Another home error in the 72nd minute proved even costlier. Seculin could not secure the ball after keeping out a Saponara free-kick, and Chiesa capitalised on his spillage to get us back level. That was as far as our fightback went, but I was satisfied to take a point home, as we could easily have ended up empty-handed.
We were staying 6th regardless of the outcome, though Danny Welbeck’s winner at Bologna did pull 7th-placed Torino within a point of us. Lazio’s 3-0 victory over Pescara put 5th position another couple of points below us.
Napoli returned to the summit after they dismantled nine-man Udinese, and Milan stumbled to a shock 2-1 defeat at lowly Cagliari. Inter’s slender title hopes were bolstered by victory against Bologna, while Cristiano Ronaldo only just spared Juventus a home defeat to Atalanta.
CSKA MOSCOW vs FIORENTINA (Europa League, Round of 32 – Leg 2)
After a long flight to Moscow, we set about booking our place in the last 16 of the Europa League. Though we could afford to lose by a single goal after winning the first leg 4-2, we were determined not to let CSKA have even the slightest glimmer of hope.
Though light snow was falling onto the VEB Arena pitch, this would be no winter wonderland for the hosts. We were certainly feeling warmed-up in the fourth minute, when Eysseric leapt above CSKA defender Semyon Matviychuk to head in a right-wing cross from Chiesa.
We went on to win a host of corners throughout the first half, eventually doubling our nightly lead from one of them in the 32nd minute. Milenkovic’s wait for his first competitive Fiorentina goal ended when the Serbian defender got his head to Eysseric’s delivery, flicking it beyond a helpless Akinfeev.
The Red Army’s two away goals had effectively been negated. They now needed to score four times simply to force extra-time. By half-time, though, we had given them an arguably impossible task.
Though Akinfeev denied Milenkovic a second goal in the 44th minute, he couldn’t thwart our other centre-back moments later. It was another Eysseric set-piece that did the damage, as Milenkovic nodded a free-kick to the far post, where Pezzella popped up to finish. It was now 3-0 to us on the night, and 7-2 on aggregate!
Barring a six-goal swing in the second half, we were comfortably through to the next round. The Russians couldn’t even muster one, as Lafont saved all six of their shots in the second half – four from Chalov, and one apiece from Alan Dzagoev and Artur Yusupov. With such a reliable goalkeeper, we could afford to take our foot off the accelerator and cruise through the rest of this tie.
The Round of 16 draw took place the following afternoon. There were plenty of strong teams potentially lying in wait, but the drawmasters were surprisingly kind to us.
The 163-time defending Scottish Premiership champions were next on the horizon for us. Celtic had dropped into this competition after finishing 3rd in a Champions League group that was headed up by last year’s finalists Manchester City and Monaco. The Bhoys then saw off 2017 Europa League runners-up Ajax in the first knockout round, but can they possibly send us packing as well?
Well… I guess that’s a question that’ll be answered in the next part. You’ll also find out – amongst other things – whether we can secure our Coppa Italia place and/or exact sweet revenge on Juventus in the league.
“Forza viola!”
Fuller FM 
You must be logged in to post a comment.