Fiorentina return to league action on Monday as they travel to the Stadio Mario Rigamonti to take on Brescia in Week 8 of Serie A. Get ready for the return of the Viola with our round-up of five key stats you need to know about the clash!

1.    The first Brescia v Fiorentina match in Serie A took place on 7 February 1932 and was won by the Viola thanks to a Raffaele Rivolo goal on 21 minutes. It was Fiorentina’s first season in Serie A: the team of Bruno Ballante in goal, Renzo Magli in defence, Mario Pizziolo and Giuseppe Bigogno in midfield and Gastone Prendato, Giuseppe Galluzzi and the aforementioned Raffaele Rivolo in attack. One player who missed that trip to Brescia was Pedro Petrone, the formidable Uruguayan centre-forward who won the top scorer gong that season (level with Bologna’s Angelo Schiavio) with 25 goals. Fiorentina finished an excellent fourth that year, racking up 39 points.

2.    As things stand, Fiorentina’s record against Brescia in Serie A reads five wins, nine draws and four defeats. The teams have also met once in the old Divisione Nazionale (1928/29), once in Serie B (1993/94) and three times in the Coppa Italia. There have been 23 meetings in total, with Fiorentina winning six, drawing 10 and losing seven of those games.

3.    That sole Brescia v Fiorentina match in Serie B finished in a 3-1 win over the home side. It took place on 20 February 1994, with Gabriel Batistuta’s 40th-minute penalty cancelled out by three Brescia penalties, converted by Stefano Bonometti (43 and 47 minutes) and Marco Piovanelli on 63 minutes.

4.    Two of the greatest Italian players in the post-war period have played for both Brescia and Fiorentina: Roberto Baggio and Luca Toni, two very different footballers but players that both left an indelible mark on the collective memory of both sets of supporters. Baggio played for Fiorentina for five years, between 1985 and 1990, before joining Brescia in 2000 and hanging up his boots there in 2004. Luca Toni followed the opposite path: he was a Brescia man between 2001 and 2003, before signing for Fiorentina in 2005 and remaining with the Viola until 2007. Both Baggio and Toni scored for Brescia against Fiorentina (four goals for Baggio, one for Toni), but neither scored for the Viola against Brescia.