So… we in the real world are just coming towards the end of 2018. If you’re reading this in Asia or Australia as soon as it’s been published, then you’re probably in 2019 right now. If you’re reading this in March, what took you so long? Also… has Theresa screwed up Brexit completely yet?
Anyway, back in the Football Manager universe, my fourth season at Fiorentina is now in full swing. It looks like I’ve done some fine business in the transfer market, as the Viola have begun the Serie A campaign in solid form and go into September 2021 sitting in the top four.
Now it’s time to see can replicate that in the Champions League. Actually, we’re already on course to do just that, to a point. After all, there are only four teams in a Champions League group, though when you consider the calibre of our opponents, we’d do very well to finish 4th. Please let me know if I’m rambling again…
THE FRESH PRINCE OF BELAÏD
“Now this is a story all about how,
My life got flipped turned upside down,
And I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there,
I’ll tell you how I discovered a French prince called Belaïd.”
Erm… I might need to put a little more work into those lyrics. Bfeore I do that, let’s marvel at the fantastic start Belaïd Nemdil has made to his Fiorentina career. After a ‘man of the match’ display on his debut against Bologna, the Franco-Algerian central defender helped us to a couple of shut-out victories over Juventus and Pescara.
As a result, Nemdil was named in Serie A’s Team of the Month for August – no mean feat at all for a 17-year-old. It’s testament to the lad’s resilience and professionalism that he has settled into the team so quickly, especially after experiencing some homesickness following his arrival from Toulouse. And if Belaïd can keep his excellent form up, I’m sure he’ll stop complaining about being ‘replaced’ by Daniele Rugani!
SPAL vs FIORENTINA (Serie A, Match 4)
Though he was enjoying a great start to his Fiorentina career, Nemdil was benched for our opening match in September. There was instead a first start of the campaign for Alessandro Bastoni, who partnered Rugani at the heart of our defence against SPAL. Claudio Ranieri’s side had lost their opening fixtures against Inter and Roma before trouncing newly-promoted Spezia 4-1.
Bastoni was booked after just two minutes for pushing SPAL striker – and Swansea legend – Alberto Paloschi. Our own striker José Luis Sánchez went for goal three minutes into his first competitive start for the Viola, only to sky the ball over the bar.
When we did take the lead after 13 minutes, it was a more surprising name who took the plaudits. Half-back Lucas Tousart got behind the SPAL defence to head home a sumptuous swerving free-kick from Federico Bernardeschi. There were some suspicions of offside, but VAR confirmed that Paloschi was just about keeping Tousart on the right side of the line.
Bernardeschi could’ve followed up his assist with a goal, but home keeper Alfred Gomis kept out his vicious 18th-minute volley from a Patrick Roberts through-ball. Jordan Veretout‘s subsequent inswinging corner found Rugani, only for Gomis to push his header against the underside of the bar before Manuel Lazzari cleared.
Sánchez was booked on 23 minutes for pulling back on the shirt of SPAL defender Giangiacomo Magnani. Three of the hosts’ players would later see yellow themselves, including Slovenia midfielder Jasmin Kurtic, whose angled shot severely tested Alban Lafont just before half-time. Lafont would only need to make a couple more saves on the other side of the break, such was the ineffectiveness of SPAL’s counter-attacks.
Our greater quality was clear to see, and we effectively secured victory on 74 minutes. It was a stunning 40-yard pass from Sandro Tonali that broke through the defence and found Bernardeschi, who half-volleyed it in at the back post! Bernardeschi had scored his first goal since returning to Fiorentina, and we had three more points on the board!
The top three also won their matches after the international break, which meant we remained in 4th place. Napoli kept up their perfect start with a two-goal victory over Milan, whose city rivals Inter were 2-1 winners at Lazio. Udinese also looked good in their 2-0 win at Genoa, who were the only Serie A team to be left pointless after Juventus got an unconvincing 1-1 draw at Empoli.
BAYERN MÜNCHEN vs FIORENTINA (Champions League, Group A – Match 1)
What a match to kick off our first Champions League expedition in over a decade. The Allianz Arena was the setting for what was sure to be a titanic tussle with Bundesliga giants Bayern München. Their team of ‘Hollywood’ superstars would be tough opponents at the best of times, but with the smiling assassin Jürgen Klopp in charge, we had to be prepared for some extreme gegenpressing.
Bayern made the more positive start, with their Italian right-back Davide Calabria’s fourth-minute punt cannoning off Emerson. We then responded to the hosts’ counter-pressing with some fast-paced counter-attacking. Bernardeschi drove an excellent ball ahead of Federico Chiesa, who shot from a tight angle and was denied by Manuel Neuer. Chiesa’s frustration increased moments later, when he was booked for a holding foul on midfielder Xaver Schlager.
Though we were enjoying our fair share of possession, Bayern were relentlessly effective at creating chances when they had the ball. Had the ageing Robert Lewandowski still been at his peak from a few seasons ago, he would surely have converted one of two opportunities that came his way. A 24th-minute header from Bruno Fernandes’ corner was caught by Lafont, while another effort 13 minutes later cleared the bar.
Our own frontman – Mario Mandzukic – was also lacking the killer instinct he’d previously shown for Bayern in the mid-2010s. Some visiting supporters thought his header from a Chiesa delivery just before half-time had found the net, but it had merely rippled the side of it.
Mandzukic would miss the target again in the 66th minute, following a series of spurned opportunities at the other end from ‘Die Roten’. After Lewandowski ran out of steam, Klopp brought on a familiar face to us in Andrea Belotti. The Italy and former Torino striker fired Julian Brandt’s cross against the post in the 73rd minute, but he would make the most of his next opportunity a little over 10 minutes later.
Having defended superbly for 83 minutes, we threw our good work away when Lafont made a Horlicks of a heavily-hit back-pass from right-back Almamy Touré. Lafont’s far from fancy footwork invited Belotti to nick the ball off him and slip the ball into an empty net.
We’d famously been on the right end of a keeping calamity at Juventus back in March, but now the shoe was on the other foot. One single mistake was enough to gift Bayern the points and consign us to a first defeat this season. I’m not entirely sure we deserved that.
That result left us already bringing up the rear of Group A. Having swapped managers in the summer, Valencia and Chelsea agreed to share a couple of points at the Nuevo Mestalla. We would face Valencia in our first home group match at the end of the month.
TORINO vs FIORENTINA (Serie A, Match 5)
Turin was a happier hunting ground for us than Munich, though our last visit to the Olimpico Grande Torino 13 months earlier had ended in defeat. I fancied our chances of avenging that loss against Il Toro, whose only points from their opening four league matches this term had come against minnows Carpi.
Not content with just having Ross Barkley, Torino’s sporting director Gianluca Petrachi had brought in John McGinn and James Milner over the summer to give his team an all-British midfield. I’m not sure that was wise from Petrachi, especially considering that Milner was now in his mid-50s.
Meanwhile, McGinn had been a yellow card magnet at previous club Aston Villa, and he collected another after five minutes for a robust challenge on our resident Englishman Roberts. Just seconds later, team-mate Simone Zaza joined him in the book for tripping Viola left-back Cristiano Biraghi after an elaborate interpretive dance routine.
Unlike our opponents, we did at least try to play some football, with Rugani and Sánchez each having headers saved by Torino’s ancient goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu. Hold on a moment… Sirigu’s only 34 years old? It feels like he’s been around since David Platt was marshaling the Sampdoria midfield!
Anyway, the first half finished goalless, but Sirigu’s creaking bones couldn’t thwart us after the interval. The breakthrough came after 54 minutes, when Chiesa tucked away a whipped cross from Kevin Diks that had brilliantly evaded the home defence. Diks had taken Touré’s place at right-back after the latter’s poor performance at Bayern, and he was making the most of his opportunity.
Our advantage would be strengthened in the 70th minute. Though Torino right-back Sébastien Corchia somehow evaded a second yellow card for a poor challenge on Biraghi, he was powerless to stop us scoring a second goal. Roberts sent the free-kick in from the left, and Tousart flicked it home to get his name on the scoresheet again. Who’d have thought Lucas would’ve been our biggest threat from set-pieces?
There was no way back for Il Toro after that. Though Milner came within inches of spoiling Lafont’s clean sheet late on, our French goalie – and his ever-reliable defence – would come away with a fifth straight league shutout!
I was obviously over-the-moon with that result, though the same couldn’t be said of Torino’s head coach. Walter Mazzarri’s reaction to another disappointing result for Il Toro might be familiar to long-time “Shades of Deep Purple” readers:
While Torino contemplated a battle with relegation, we moved up to 2nd, thanks partly to Udinese’s 0-0 draw against Bologna. Napoli remained top after making it five wins from five against Pescara, with Willian’s first-half brace being followed by a third goal from Juan Mata. André Gomes was also at the double for Inter during a 2-1 home win over Empoli, though we edged ahead of the champions on goal difference.
Roma suffered their first defeat of the season, falling to a lone André Silva goal at Milan. Meanwhile, things were looking up for Juventus after they finally got a win on the board, scraping through by the odd goal in seven against… ahem, Frosinone. You’ll have to do better than that, lads!
FIORENTINA vs EMPOLI (Serie A, Match 6)
Despite an excellent performance in the previous match, Diks was benched for the visit of local rivals Empoli, with Touré returning at right-back. Further forward, the Federicos played alongside one another from the start for the first time since their reunion.
Now under the management of 2006 World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro, Empoli had drawn their opening four games before losing their fifth to Inter. Cannavaro’s starting line-up included two Viola loanees in right-back Foguete and inside-forward Alexandru Măţan. Neither had pulled up any trees for the Azzurri thus far, and I was hoping they wouldn’t save their best performances for us.
Empoli registered the first shot on target after 10 minutes, with Antonino La Gumina nodding Sofiane Boufal’s corner into the hands of Lafont. At the other end eight minutes later, Ivan Provedel made light work of a tame pot-shot from Chiesa. Provedel would later withstand a couple of headers from centre-half Bastoni and striker Dusan Vlahovic.
Măţan then started to show glimpses of his talent just before half-time. After La Gumina dispossessed Nemdil on the edge of our area, the Romanian youngster took the ball and fed it through space to attacking midfielder Lorenzo Lollo. Had it not been for an excellent fingertip save by Lafont, we might well have trailed 1-0 at the break.
The deadlock was broken at that same goal five minutes into the second half, as Vlahovic finally put us ahead. Emerson jinked his way into the Empoli box before swerving a shot against the frame of the goal. Vlahovic then volleyed in the rebound, making the most of the opportunity I’d given him up front after slow starts from Mandzukic and Sánchez.
Our 1-0 lead was far from secure, though, with one player doing his level best to try and get the visitors back on terms. Măţan nearly notched up an assist on the hour mark, with La Gumina volleying his right-wing cross inches wide. He then launched an optimistic long shot at goal in the 72nd minute, forcing Lafont into a somewhat tricky save.
After we missed opportunities to put the game to bed, Empoli finished strongly, and their Viola loanees almost snatched a point in the final minute. Foguete’s deep centre was poorly intercepted by Bastoni, allowing Măţan to cut the ball home from a tight angle. Fortunately, the referee’s assistant had raised his offside flag, and after Măţan missed one more pop at goal in injury-time, we could at last celebrate a hard-fought victory.
That late offside call not only preserved our spotless defensive record, but it gave us a fifth straight win… and some breathing space in the top three. 4th-placed Udinese were four points adrift after drawing 2-2 with mid-table Juventus (I hope I never get tired of saying that). Atalanta were now 5th after winning 2-1 at Lazio, but they were a further point behind.
On the minus side, Inter retook 2nd place afer putting a couple of goals past Carpi, who’d made an inconsistent start to life back in Serie A. Napoli remained consistently brilliant, beating Chievo 2-0 to extend their winning start to six games.
So here’s how things stand in the league after those opening six rounds:
There already appears to be a sizeable gap between the good teams and the not-so-good ones. While five teams remain unbeaten (the current top four, plus unfancied Bologna in 6th), there is also a quintet of sides awaiting their first wins. Poor old Genoa would happily settle for a point – ANY point – at this stage in the season.
FIORENTINA vs VALENCIA (Champions League, Group A – Match 2)
Our second match in this season’s Champions League was already looking hugely significant. Having thrown away a potential draw in Germany, it was vital that we beat Zinedine Zidane’s Valencia at home if we weren’t to be cut adrift in Group A.
We certainly didn’t hold back early on against ‘Los Che’. Though Chiesa’s first effort cleared the bar after seven minutes, he did set up a golden opportunity for Bernardeschi with a superb pass into space. Bernardeschi’s initial strike was parried by Valencia’s ex-Viola goalkeeper Neto, and the rebound was knocked behind by young right-back Álex Centelles.
When Valencia went on the attack in the 21st minute, they were rather more incisive. Right-back Daniel Wass and left-sided forward Gonçalo Guedes each sent the ball across our penalty area before the latter’s cross found Brazil-born Spain striker Rodrigo. Fiorentina goalkeeper André Onana – making his competitive debut for the club – could not have done a great deal to stop the header.
We didn’t handle at all well the pressure of being 1-0 down at home. Tousart had been cautioned just before Rodrigo’s goal, with Marco Benassi and Mandzukic later joining him after cynical fouls of their own. Mario would be substituted between halves, having done very little except nod a Bernardeschi cross over the bar just before the interval.
Replacement striker Vlahovic did threaten to equalise in the 65th minute. The Serbian youngster’s header from Biraghi’s cross was palmed behind by Neto, who later kept out efforts from Tonali, Bernardeschi and Valentin Eysseric. Even Nemdil tried his luck on 77 minutes, but the wonderkid defender’s volley couldn’t beat the Brazilian custodian.
Valencia’s defence was in tip-top form, with Wass in particular making few mistakes. One rare slip came in the 89th minute, when a headed clearance found Eysseric, who was back in action after twisting his ankle a month ago. Eyserric in turn found Bernardeschi with a searching ball into the box. The home fans held their breaths as Federico volleyed the ball with his weaker right foot… and hit the post! We knew right then that this just wouldn’t be our night.
Back-to-back 1-0 defeats had left us with a huge mountain to climb if we were to stay in Europe post-Christmas. Chelsea beat Bayern München 5-2 at Stamford Bridge, which meant they were top of Group A on four points alongside Valencia. We were the only side without any points or goals, let alone any victories.
What a bewildering start to the season this has been. We haven’t yet conceded any goals in Serie A, yet we don’t know how to score in the Champions League!
I’ll be back in the new year for another installment of “Shades of Deep Purple”. In the meantime, I’ll pray to God for some better luck in Europe… and some bloomin’ goals for Mario Mandzukic. After all, I’m not paying you €65,000 a week just to make me rue the death of England’s best chance to win the World Cup since 1990, Mario.
“Forza viola!”
Fuller FM 
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