Fiorentina travel to the Stadio Via del Mare to take on Lecce in Serie A’s Week 33 on Wednesday evening – and we’ve got you covered with this round-up of five key facts and stats to keep in mind ahead of kick-off.

2.    The first Lecce v Fiorentina clash in Serie A took place on 26 January 1986 and ended in a 2-1 win for the home side. Sergio Battistini put the Viola ahead on eight minutes, but goals from Pedro Pasculli on 67 minutes and Alberto Di Chiara five minutes before the ninety completed the turnaround for Lecce. Incidentally, Di Chiara ended up joining Fiorentina a few months later. Fiorentina only got their first win at the Via del Mare on 21 September 2005 – it was a 3-1 victory secured thanks to goals from Stefano Fiore, Valeri Bojinov and Luca Toni. Alex Pinardi got Lecce’s goal.

3.    Fiorentina’s second – and most recent – Serie A win at Lecce deserves a special mention. It took place back on 5 May 2012, with Fiorentina needing to win to ensure their Serie A status for another season – as were Lecce, who needed three points to keep their hopes of staying up alive. Leading the Viola that day was Vincenzo Guerini, who had recently replaced Delio Rossi after the latter’s sacking in the wake of the clash with Adem Ljajic during the Fiorentina v Novara match. As it happened, Alesso Cerci’s goal in the 35th minute proved enough to secure the win for Fiorentina, and Lecce were relegated to Serie B – and then to Lega Pro Prima Divisione, for match-fixing in relation to the Bari v Lecce match on 15 May 2011. That Lecce team was packed with plenty of men with Fiorentina ties, such as Juan Cuadrado, Luis Muriel, Nenad Tomovic, Davide Brivio, Manuele Blasi, Valeri Bojinov, Haris Seferovic and Christian Obodo. Meanwhile, Fiorentina’s team contained Ruben Olivera, who had been signed from Lecce that January.

4.    Despite Lecce v Fiorentina being a relatively new fixture, there have been six managers that have taken charge of both sides: Eugenio Bersellini, Eugenio Fascetti, Carlo Mazzone, Cesare Prandelli, Alberto Cavasin and Delio Rossi. Meanwhile, Rino Marchesi, Dino Pagliari, Piero Braglia, Pasquale Padalino and current Lecce coach Fabio Liverani have all played for Fiorentina and managed Lecce.

5.    The Fiorentina v Lecce match played at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence earlier in the season, on 30 November 2019, saw Lecce get a 1-0 win courtesy of a goal from Andrea La Mantia on 49 minutes. It was a third straight defeat for Vincenzo Montella’s men (after losses to Cagliari and Verona) and would be followed by a fourth at the hands of Torino. It was towards the end of the first half against Lecce that Franck Ribery sustained the serious injury that would keep him out of the side until the post-lockdown resumption of Serie A, a blow that severely hampered the Viola’s efforts in the intervening period.