With Saturday night’s Fiorentina v AC Milan clash fast approaching, we’ve put together this list of ten key stats to get you in the mood for the Week 25 match-up.
1. Fiorentina and AC Milan have faced off in Florence 84 times: 79 in Serie A and five in the Coppa Italia. The Viola have the better record so far, with 34 wins, 24 draws and 26 defeats and 125 goals scored to 106 conceded.
2. The first Fiorentina v AC Milan clash in Italy’s top tier took place on 31 June 1932, with the Viola running out 3-0 winners. Gastone Prendato scored a brace, with Giuseppe Galluzzi grabbing the other goal. The following season, Fiorentina won the fixture by an even more impressive 5-1 scoreline. Aldo Giuseppe Borel got a brace that day, with the other goals provided by Alfredo Pitto, Vicente Sarni and Carlos Gringa.
3. AC Milan have been among Fiorentina’s main competitors both times the Viola have won the Scudetto (1955/56 and 1968/69), with the Rossoneri finishing as runners up in both those seasons. In 55/56, Fiorentina easily saw off AC Milan with a total of 53 points against the Rossoneri’s 41, beating them 3-0 in Florence on 15 April 1956 thanks to a Giuseppe Virgili brace and a goal from Maurilio Prini, but in 68/69 AC Milan were still in the running until the penultimate day of the season, having held Fiorentina to a 0-0 draw in Week 4 on 27 October 1968.
4. The Fiorentina v AC Milan clash of 31 March 1974 would go down in history as one of the most unfortunate games of Giancarlo De Sisti’s career. Gigi Radice’s Fiorentina side were 2-1 up at half time in the Week 23 clash, thanks to goals from Nello Saltutti and Moreno Roggi either side of a momentary equaliser from Giorgio Biasiolo. Early in the second half, Fiorentina were awarded two penalties. De Sisti took both, but both were saved by Rossoneri keeper Pierluigi Pizzaballa. Thankfully, Giancarlo Antognoni scored on 75 minutes to make it 3-1, with Fiorentina running out eventual 3-2 winners – meaning De Sisti’s penalty misses went unpunished.
5. Fiorentina’s 0-0 draw with AC Milan on 7 February 1999 was a pretty painful one too. On 88 minutes, Gabriel Omar Batitusta was struck down by a knee injury, all but erasing any hopes Fiorentina had of winning their third Scudetto crown. Fiorentina were top of the table at the time with 42 points, ahead of Lazio in second on 41 and AC Milan (who would go on to win the title) and Parma in joint third with 37 points. The injury kept Batistuta out for five weeks, by which time Lazio were top with 51 points, Fiorentina second on 57 and AC Milan third on 46. To say Batistuta was sorely missed would be an understatement.
6. Florence’s Stadio Comunale was the venue for a clash of the generations on 27 February 1977, part of Week 18 of Serie A. Nereo Rocco’s AC Milan side were the visitors in Florence. Keeping goal for them that day was Enrico Albertosi, who – ten years previously – had manned the sticks for Fiorentina. One of the ball boys that day was a Fiorentina youth striker by the name of Alberto Albertosi, Enrico’s son. AC Milan took at 1-0 lead courtesy of an Egidio Calloni penalty, but on 71 minutes Giuliano Bertarelli struck for the Gigliati to make it 1-1. Behind the goal, Alberto celebrated like a true Fiorentina boy, while his father rued the goal conceded. Thankfully, all was forgotten on 90 minutes as father embraced son with a wry smile!
7. Fiorentina were awarded two penalties last time out against Sampdoria – just like they were in the Fiorentina v AC Milan fixture of 7 April 2013. It ended 2-2, with goals from Riccardo Montolivo and Matheiu Flamini cancelled out from the spot by Adem Ljajic and David Pizarro, despite Fiorentina being down to ten men after the second off of Nenad Tomovic.
8. Another Fiorentina v AC Milan clash worth remembering was that of 13 January 2001, when Fatih Terim’s blistering Viola side dismantled Alberto Zaccheroni’s AC Milan 4-0. Goals from Nuno Gomes, Sandro Cois, Enrico Chiesa and Rui Costa did for the Rossoneri that day, with the win moving Fiorentina up to third place on 27 points, ahead of none other than AC Milan. Sadly, Terim could only muster three draws and three defeats after that win and was sacked after a 2-2 draw at home against Brescia. That game was played on a Saturday night too, if we’re looking for good omens…
9. Fiorentina’s last match against AC Milan, at San Siro on 29 September 2019, finished in a 3-1 win for Vincenzo Montella’s men. Erick Pulgar scored from the penalty spot, while Gaetano Castrovilli and Franck Ribery also find the net. The Viola were awarded two penalties that day too, but Federico Chiesa missed the second on 70 minutes.
10. The most recent Fiorentina v AC Milan match-up took place on 11 May 2019 – again, it was a Saturday night 20:45 CET kick-off. It was Week 36, with the Viola mired in a relegation battle. The Rossoneri ran out 1-0 winners at the Franchi, courtesy of Hakan Cahlanoglu’s goal ten minutes before half time. The Viola would save themselves from the drop on the last day of the season, following a 0-0 home draw with Genoa. Cahlanoglu also scored in the previous Fiorentina v AC Milan clash in the 2017/18 season, which finished in a 1-1 draw after the Turkish No.10 cancelled out Giovanni Simeone’s opener.
Published: Fri, 21 Feb 2020 14:05:00 +0100
Source: Fiorentina Official website en.violachannel.tv
By Anna Italia
