Another busy month is in store for Fiorentina. The Viola will play seven matches in October 2020, including a couple of home fixtures in the Europa League. If we can overcome Malmö and then Slavia Prague, qualification for the knockout rounds should be a formality.
When it comes to Serie A, we will end the month with successive matches against Roma, Juventus AND Napoli. Those are three daunting games which could potentially make or break our early push for a top-four finish.
FIORENTINA vs MALMÖ (Europa League, Group G – Match 2)
We kicked off October with our first home match in this season’s Europa League, against Allsvenskan champions Malmö. Having drawn with Dynamo Kiev in our Group G opener, victory over the pool’s lowest seeds was an absolute necessity.
For half an hour, even getting one goal was looking like a struggle. Nicolás Benedetti wasted a great opportunity in the 26th minute, with the midfielder’s shot from striker Willem Geubbels‘ square ball being stopped by home goalie Johan Dahlin. The only damage that ‘Di Blåe’ sustained during those opening stages was to middleman Samuel Adrian, who bruised his shin in a challenge from Benedetti.
Geubbels was also struggling an with injury, to his thigh. That didn’t stop the French teenager from eventually coming good in the 35th minute, leaping high in the Malmö box to head home a right-wing cross from Patrick Roberts. Once that first goal found the net, we always looked like getting more.
We did double our advantage four minutes later. Having been nobbled in the box by ex-Juventus defender Luca Marrone, Valentin Eysseric stepped up to take the resultant penalty. A confident strike was powered into Dahlin’s top-right corner, and we held a 2-0 advantage at the break.
Our third goal – which came a little under two minutes into the second half – was a real scorcher. Upon receiving a square ball from Marco Benassi about 25 yards from goal, Benedetti proceeded to crash it in off Dahlin’s crossbar! That was some way for the flamboyant Colombian to get off the mark this season!
Roberts also hit the woodwork in the 60th minute, though his shot – which would’ve given him a first competitive goal for Fiorentina – hit the wrong side of the post. Five minutes later, another player did break his duck for the campaign. After Christian Nørgaard intercepted a lazy throw from Malmö right-back Eric Larsson, Benedetti pumped it upfield for substitute Santi Mina to break clear and send us 4-0 up!
The Swedes tried to restore some respectability to the scoreline later on, but target man Carlos Strandberg hit the bar with his only shot in the 69th minute. More agony would be piled on them in injury time, as Jordan Veretout‘s 20-yard volley from a Nørgaard cross flew into the net. That rounded off an emphatic 5-0 victory – my biggest in a competitive match as Fiorentina boss!
We were now top of Group G with four points – a tally Dynamo Kyiv matched by winning 3-1 at Slavia Prague. The poor Czechs remained marooned at the bottom of the table, and next up for them three weeks later was a journey to the Artemio Franchi. Another home win there would put us in a fantastic position to qualify at the halfway stage.
SAMPDORIA vs FIORENTINA (Serie A, Match 8)
Three days after that five-star performance, it was back to work for us in Genoa. Stefano Pioli’s Sampdoria might have beaten Napoli 3-2 less than a fortnight earlier, but that was their only win from seven attempts in Serie A this season. A battle against relegation loomed unless they could return to winning ways at the Luigi Ferraris.
Things were already looking troublesome for our hosts after just six minutes. Pietro Pellegri‘s run towards goal was halted by a slide tackle from Samp defender Lorenco Simic, but Lucas Tousart was quickly onto the ball. A brilliantly-weighted first-time ball into the box found the onrushing Domenico Berardi, who stayed onside to score just his second Fiorentina goal that wasn’t a penalty!
But for some valiant keeping by Lukasz Fabianski, that might not have been our only goal in an edgy first period. The former West Ham and Swansea goalie – hardly a novice when it came to relegation battles – kept out a couple of late attempts from Germán Pezzella and Federico Chiesa. The latter would create a great opportunity for Pellegri just before half-time, but Pietro volleyed it wide from point-blank range.
We had Pellegri and Geubbels, of course, but Sampdoria had an exciting 19-year-old forward of their own. The skilful Belgian prospect Jamie Yayi Mpie had his team’s best equalising attempt early in the second half, but Alban Lafont pushed it away. He would not be majorly tested again.
While Yayi Mpie was still quite raw, Pellegri was very much the real deal. In the 65th minute, he hunted down a long ball down the line from Fiorentina left-back Cristiano Biraghi. I thought he needed company as he cut into the box, but a powerful strike past Fabianski showed otherwise. That made it six goals in seven outings for Pietro already this season!
A strong tackle from Samp’s stopper Timothée Kolodziejczak denied Pellegri the chance to add a third goal for us in the 81st minute, but that would not be required. We had put on another sterling performance to tighten our grip on a top-four place.
As we were continuing our strong start, Inter and Juventus were maintaining theirs. Respective away victories over Sassuolo and Palermo kept the top two marginally ahead of us. It was also a winning weekend for 4th-placed Napoli, who inflicted more pain on a Roma side who were again failing to meet expectations.
Despite staying unbeaten with a 4-0 crushing of Chievo, Milan still had to make do with 5th. Completing a clean sweep of wins for the top six sides were unlikely high-flyers Pescara, who benefited from a late own goal by Bologna’s goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski.
INTERNATIONAL BRIGHT YOUNG THING
Sorry to go all Jesus Jones on you, but Pellegri is kinda like our chosen one, isn’t he? The 19-year-old’s sixth goal in seven matches came just days after he added yet another award to his fast-growing collection:
And there would be more honours to come in the international break. Roberto Mancini’s European champions had a home friendly against Greece, which was the perfect time for them to test out the country’s big sensation:
Italy won 1-0, thanks to a first international goal from Inter’s Matteo Politano. However, I was more concerned with the incident that had happened just 16 minutes in:
Please make your mind up, Emanuele. Is he injured for two weeks, three weeks, four, six… until Italy leaves the EU? Either way, losing Chiesa was not good news, especially with so many big matches ahead of us over the coming weeks.
Chiesa’s misfortune was an opportunity for Marco Benassi to win his fifth Azzurri cap. It was his first in over a year, and fully deserved in my opinion after a solid start to the campaign.
FIORENTINA vs UDINESE (Serie A, Match 9)
The last time we played Udinese at home, we squandered a half-time lead and lost 2-1. With such a tricky run of games lying ahead, we could not afford a repeat performance if we wanted to stay in the top four for the foreseeable future.
The Zebrette were on a run of four games without victory and found themselves 14th after 10 rounds. Despite that, they showed plenty of resilience in the early stages, with goalkeeper Juan Musso withstanding shots from Berardi and Eysseric. A lack of incisiveness from our midfield meant we didn’t create any better chances.
By half-time, it was Udinese who had looked most like breaking the deadlock. Antonin Barak was on target on his last visit to the Franchi, and the Czech midfielder was only denied another goal in the 25th minute by Lafont’s fingertips. His colleague Rolando Mandragora was even unluckier three minutes later, with the crossbar rescuing us.
The same woodwork would thwart us when the teams switched ends. A 49th-minute drive from Eysseric came back off the post before Udinese centre-half Álvaro hacked it clear. There would be agony of a different kind for Fiorentina right-back Kevin Diks in the 53rd minute, when a tackle from Adam Ounas hurt his knee and effectively ended his game early.
Eysseric was ineffective, and so was his fellow French inside-forward Geubbels, who got none of his three attempts on target after replacing Berardi for the final half-hour. In truth, this was a match where we arguably needed an out-and-out winger who could’ve stretched Udinese out wide and caused real problems. Chiesa was very sorely missed.
While our attackers continued to struggle, Biraghi once again excelled at left-back. It was thanks largely to him and central defender Kurt Zouma that we dispelled Udinese’s late attacks and ground out a goalless draw. Taking one point from a match where we should’ve had all three was disappointing, but at least we avoided defeat this time.
While I rued our missed opportunities, the tifosi Twitterati were busy saluting our defence for keeping yet another clean sheet:
Those two dropped points saw us lose ground on the top two. Inter were now four points ahead of us after a convincing 4-1 win over Verona, who slumped to the bottom of the table. Meanwhile, Juventus recovered from 1-0 down after 87 minutes to win 3-1 at Napoli, who emploded after having Amadou Diawara and Juan Mata sent off. Yes, you read that right – Juan Mata was sent off!
Serie A’s last unbeaten record bit the dust, as Milan lost 2-1 at Atalanta, who were right in the European mix after a terrible start. Poor old Roma, on the other hand, were left further adrift of the top four following a 1-0 reverse against SPAL.
FIORENTINA vs SLAVIA PRAGUE (Europa League, Group G – Match 3)
Malmö had already fallen by the wayside at the Franchi this month. If Slavia Prague – the champions of the Czech Republic – suffered the same fate, we would take a huge step towards booking our place in the Europa League knockout rounds.
Slavia were massive underdogs, and their tactics reflected that. Manager Jindrich Trpisovsky had set up his team to frustrate us and then hit us on the break. It made for a contest that was much closer and nervier than I was perhaps anticipated.
Eysseric looked like our most likely scorer on the left wing, at least initially. A hopeful effort in the 9th minute was brilliantly blocked by Bebeto, who looked surprisingly sprightly at right-back for a 56-year-old whose famous son now played in Turkey for Fenerbahçe. Okay, maybe it wasn’t that Bebeto…
By the 27th minute, though, it was our other inside-forward who was celebrating. Roberts’ wait for his first competitive Fiorentina goal ended when he got the final touch to Mina’s header from an Eysseric corner. Slavia’s defending of their six-yard box was suspect to say the least, but nonetheless, we were 1-0 up.
The Červenobílí pushed for an equaliser just before half-time, when former Fulham left-back Rafa Soares drew Lafont into his first save. As it transpired, Alban would only have to make one more in the entire match – from substitute attacker Jean-Paul Boëtius eight minutes from time.
Slavia’s defence were rather busier at the other end, with Bebeto impressing in particular. He was narrowly pipped to the ‘man of the match’ award by our own energetic right-back Kevin Diks, who was one of four Viola players to see yellow in this match.
Discipline had been an issue for us in this match, though we did at least keep our heads when it mattered most. The visitors failed to make the most of some last-ditch assaults on our goal, and so we secured yet another clean sheet, not to mention the three points.
We were on seven points at the halfway point of the group stage, and so too were Dynamo Kyiv. Though Artem Besedin was sent off in the very first minute at home to Malmö (who also scored the first goal), it was Dynamo who eventually prevailed 2-1.
Win two of our next three group games, and we’d be into the Round of 32. Simple enough, eh?
These next three league fixtures certainly wouldn’t be easy pickings for us. Juventus and Napoli were on the horizon, but before then, we made our way to the capital…
ROMA vs FIORENTINA (Serie A, Match 10)
Of the big beasts who awaited us in this three-game stretch, I was most pleased that we got to face Roma first. The Giallorossi had lost their last three matches without scoring, and they had never beaten Fiorentina under my stewardship.
There was no real reason for us to be running scared of Roma, and so we pushed them into their own half from the outset. Our hosts responded by wisely backing off for a while, thus leaving our attackers without much room to exploit.
Roma applied some pressure of their own midway through the half. Lafont made difficult work of a header from their centre-half Federico Fazio in the 27th minute. Target man Edin Dzeko did beat our goalie a minute later, but his strike from Stephan El Shaarawy’s through-ball came back off the post. Almamy Touré then hacked the rebound into touch to end a nervy spell for us.
I urged my players to increase the tempo and go more direct in the second period. That paid dividends after five minutes, when Roma defender Domagoj Vida was pressured into conceding possession to Roberts. Vida did halt Paddy’s run towards the box with a slide tackle, but the ball deflected off Fazio and into Pellegri’s path. With a lethal half-volley, Pietro gave us the advantage, and there was more to come.
When Pellegri scored again in the 56th minute, it was a mistake from Fazio that he took advantage of. The Argentine giant mistimed his jump as he tried to intercept a direct ball from Biraghi, which our 19-year-old hotshot ran onto and then drilled beyond keeper Etrit Berisha. That was Pellegri’s eighth goal of the season, and his first double.
The Giallorossi could not find a way back after falling 2-0 behind. Lorenzo Pellegrini did enjoy their best shot of the match late in normal time (which was safely caught by Lafont), but the Italy midfielder would end the match in disgrace. An injury-time scuffle with Veretout saw Pellegrini collect a second booking and left his team-mates’ faces – not to mention their shirts – as red as the card that followed.
Inter were held to a goalless draw in the Milan derby, so we now trailed the frontrunners by just two points. We were also back level on points with Juventus, who were saved from a home defeat to SPAL by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Elsewhere, Napoli rebounded with a strong second-half performance to see off Palermo’s free-fallers, who had now collected one point from seven games since their remarkable start. There was more disappointment for Lazio, though Borja Mayoral’s 84th-minute penalty denied Empoli what would’ve been their first league win this season.
FIORENTINA vs JUVENTUS (Serie A, Match 11)
3rd faced 2nd next at the Franchi, as we crossed swords with bitter rivals Juventus once again. The Bianconeri were now under the stewardship of Antonio Conte, so I expected a close contest between two defensively-solid teams. What I didn’t expect was for both teams to concede within the first three minutes.
It was Juventus who came out of the blocks fastest, with their two Portuguese marvels combining superbly to open the scoring after just 42 seconds. An excellent cross from right wing-back João Cancelo cleared our defence and found Ronaldo, who half-volleyed home.
Less than two minutes later, though, we were back level. Vítor Hugo‘s header from Eysseric’s corner was blocked by Paolo Travaglia – one of two teenagers partnering Leonardo Bonucci in the Old Lady’s backline. First onto the rebound was Tousart, who slammed in his first Fiorentina goal!
17-year-old Travaglia’s night got worse in the 11th minute, when he was booked for shoving Pellegri. He was looking a bit suspect, but Juve goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny held his nerve to stop shots from Sandro Tonali and Eysseric. The Pole was also equal to a 38th-minute strike from Benedetti, who never stopped running in our midfield.
Having flicked a couple of headers just off target in the first half, Ronaldo tried again for his brace early in the second. He almost beat Lafont again from a left-wing delivery by Alex Sandro just 43 seconds after the restart, but the Viola goalie had other ideas. We needed Lafont to make another strong save barely a minute later, this time to stop a low drive from Sami Khedira.
Our first real chance to take the lead after the break was on the hour mark. The excellent Benedetti picked out Pellegri, whose attempted chip over Szczesny just cleared the bar. Benedetti was even unluckier not to find the net six minutes later, when he whipped a shot against the woodwork.
With 20 minutes to go, I went for the kill by bringing on Chiesa – who’d scored a hat-trick in this fixture last season – and Geubbels. Neither man could quite bring home the bacon (sorry… bagels), though Chiesa did trouble Szczesny in the 77th minute. After Bonucci had a late effort for Juve saved by Lafont, another great match between Fiorentina and Juventus finished level at 1-1.
Inter took advantage of their nearest rivals’ stalemate to build a four-point lead at the top. Braces from Gabriel Barbosa and Matteo Politano gave them a resounding 4-0 win over relegation-threatened Sampdoria.
Napoli’s 1-1 draw at SPAL kept them in 4th place, though Milan were just behind them after a narrow away win over Genoa. After four straight losses, Roma returned to form – and the top seven – with a 4-0 thrashing of Chievo.
NAPOLI vs FIORENTINA (Serie A, Match 12)
Biraghi had pulled his thigh late on against Juventus, but a course of pain-killers got our top left-back through what was likely to be another almighty battle. Napoli had lost just two league matches thus far this season and were set to challenge for further honours after taking last year’s Coppa Italia at our expense.
With Pellegri feeling jaded, Mina led the line for us this time. The Spanish striker had a chance to put us ahead in the second minute after Roberts’ long ball played him clean through. Alas, he put too much power into an attempted dink over goalkeeper Alex Meret, clearing the bar.
Napoli’s own shooting was also lacking accuracy. Polish striker Arkadiusz Milik’s slow start to his campaign didn’t look like improving, while holding midfielder Diawara and inside-forward Mata also spurned opportunities.
Indeed, the Partenopei tested the referee’s patience more than Lafont’s goalkeeping skills. Three home players were cautioned in the first half, and right-back Elseid Hysaj followed them into the book in the second. Hysaj was later named ‘man of the match’, which should give you a good idea of how the rest of the game panned out.
Yes, I’m afraid to say that this was no classic. Neither team could click their attacks into gear at all, and it was the defenders who shone brightest in a low-quality 0-0 draw.
From our perspective, Mina bruised his ankle early in the second period and was replaced with Pellegri. Despite an encouraging start, Pietro faded badly towards full-time. Having had hardly any rest since representing Italy at this summer’s Olympics, he looked like a player badly in need of one.
Fiorentina and Napoli would stay 3rd and 4th respectively after sharing the points. Further up the table, Inter’s lead was cut from four points to just one after they lost 2-1 at Udinese and closest challengers Juventus won 2-0 against lowly Chievo. Milan conceded a late winner at home to Pescara, who leapfrogged them into 5th.
So far, so good, but history tells us there can be no room for complacency. Fiorentina started the 1992/1993 season very well under Luigi Radice, only to fall apart when the coach was sacked following a row with the club chairman. They finished 16th and were subsequently relegated.
I mention that because ‘Gigi’ Radice – who was better-known for winning the scudetto with Torino in 1976 – passed away on Friday. He was 83 years old.
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