After Fiorentina were handed a round of 32 clash with Tottenham Hotspur at today’s Europa League draw in Nyon, Viola coach Vincenzo Montella gave us his take on the match-up:
“They’ll be tough opposition. Their current standing in the Premier League belies the quality in the squad. It’s also worth remembering that they’re bound to dip into the transfer market in January to reinforce what is an already-strong squad with a top-quality midfield.
“Having said that, I know my players and I’m convinced that they’ll give it their all, as they always do. We know how hard it is to go to England where the fans are always right behind their teams. But then I’m sure that our fans will be invaluable in the return leg at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
“When you play in this stage of the Europa League, you know you’re going to have to play the big teams sooner or later. Perhaps the Italian sides could’ve had a more favourable draw but we’ll certainly go for it.
“If we all get through the round of 32, at a certain point some of us Italian sides may have to play each other, and of course that will mean an Italian team getting knocked out.
“However, we all need to do everything we can to get as far as possible in the competition, seeing as it’s so important in terms of improving Italy’s UEFA coefficient.”
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Category Archives: ACF Fiorentina
Andrea Della Valle pens open letter to Luca Toni
“Dear Luca,
“Congratulations on scoring your 300th goal. You have tasted great success in your career, reaching the pinnacle with the World Cup triumph in 2006, and I’m so proud that Fiorentina forms an important part of your footballing journey.
“With us, you were top scorer in Serie A and won the Golden Boot. You made an invaluable contribution to many victories and we still remember your performances here in Florence.
“When you play with the level of enthusiasm and passion that you continue to display to this day, any objective becomes attainable.
“On behalf of the entire Fiorentina family, I’d like to congratulate you and send my warmest regards.”
Andrea Della Valle ]]>
2014 – 2015 UEFA Europa League Round of 32 Draw
By Anna Italia
Follow me in Twitter @ItalianSerie
The 2014 – 2015 UEFA Europa League Round of 32 draw will be held on Monday 15 December 2014 in Nyon. There are 5 Serie A teams participating: AS Roma, Inter, SSC Napoli, Fiorentina, and Torino.
Here are the regulations for the Europa League Draw according to UEFA.com.
Draw procedure
• The 12 group winners and four best third-ranked teams in the UEFA Champions League are seeded.
• They are drawn against the 12 group runners-up and remaining UEFA Champions League sides.
• No team can play a club from their group or a side from the same association.
• Due to the decision from the UEFA Emergency Panel, sides from Russia and Ukraine can not be drawn together.
• The round of 16 draw will be made on 27 February.
Seeded
Group A: VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach (GER)
B: Club Brugge KV (BEL)
C: Beşiktaş JK (TUR)
D: FC Salzburg (AUT)
E: FC Dinamo Moskva (RUS)
F: FC Internazionale Milano (ITA)
G: Feyenoord (NED)
H: Everton FC (ENG)
I: SSC Napoli (ITA)
J: FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)
K: ACF Fiorentina (ITA)
L: Legia Warszawa (POL)
Olympiacos FC (GRE)*
Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR)*
Athletic Club (ESP)*
FC Zenit (RUS)*
Unseeded
A: Villarreal CF (ESP)
B: Torino FC (ITA)
C: Tottenham Hotspur FC (ENG)
D: Celtic FC (SCO)
E: PSV Eindhoven (NED)
F: FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (UKR)
G: Sevilla FC (ESP, holders)
H: VfL Wolfsburg (GER)
I: BSC Young Boys (SUI)
J: Aalborg BK (DEN)
K: EA Guingamp (FRA)
L: Trabzonspor AŞ (TUR)
RSC Anderlecht (BEL)*
AFC Ajax (NED)*
Liverpool FC (ENG)*
AS Roma (ITA)*
*Transferred from UEFA Champions League
Road to Warsaw
Round of 16: Draw 27 February, matches 12 & 19 March
Quarter-finals: Draw 20 March, matches 16 & 23 April
Semi-finals: Draw 24 April, matches 7 & 14 May
Final: Wednesday 27 May, National Stadium Warsaw
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Front Pages, La Gazzetta dello Sport, Corriere dello Sport, and Tutto Sport from Monday 15 December 2014
Here are the front pages from Italy main Sports newspapers La Gazzetta dello Sport, Corriere dello Sport, and Tutto Sport from Monday 15 December 2014
La Gazzetta dello Sport
Front Page, Prima Pagina
Monday 15 December 2014
Corriere dello Sport
Front Page, Prima Pagina
Monday 15 December 2014
Tutto Sport
Front Page, Prima Pagina
Monday 15 December 2014
Result CESENA 1 – 4 FIORENTINA, Goals by Valero, Sunday 14 December 2014, Serie A Week 15
By Anna Italia
Follow me in Twitter @ItalianSerieA,
Facebook: Anna Italia Page’
% Ball Possession CESENA and % Ball Possession FIORENTINA
Cesena 1 – 3 Fiorentina 
60′ Stefan Savic (own goal) 44′ Borja Valero
. 47′ Stefan Savic
. 79′ Gonzalo Rodriguez
. 90’Mounir El Hamdaoui
Serie A Standing BEFORE the game:
Cesena, 19th position with 8 points and a negative goal difference of -14
Fiorentina, 10th position with 20 points and a positive goal difference of -5
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | Goals | DIFF | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Fiorentina | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 16:11 | 5 | 20 |
| 19 | Cesena | 14 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 11:25 | -14 | 8 |
Cesena crying out for help to survive in Serie A. It’s the debut of coach Domenico Di Carlo will make his debut with Cesena after replacing coach Pierpaolo Bisoli on December 8. Challenge now for Di Carlo to save the team…. Fiorentina will look to win the game and start climbing towards the top 5 positions.
Fiorentina opening the score in the 44th minute following a corner with Borja Valero defeating Cesenal goalkeeper Leali with a right footed shot in the bottom right corner. The corner conceded by Cesena midfielder Constantin Nica.
Here is CESENA official starting lineup by coach Domenico Di Carlo:
CESENA (5-3-2): Leali; Nica, Capelli, Volta, Lucchini, Mazzotta; Carbonero, Cascione, Coppola; Defrel, Hugo Almeida.
Here is FIORENTINA official starting lineup by coach Vincenzo Montella:
FIORENTINA (3-5-1-1): Neto; Basanta, Gonzalo Rodríguez, Savić; Joaquín, Aquilani, Pizarro, Borja Valero, Alonso; Fernández; Gómez.
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AC Cesena Tickets
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Stats BEFORE the game. Top scorer for CESENA: Forward Gregoire Defrel with 4 goals
Top scorer for FIORENTINA: Khoma Babacar with 4 goals
| Cesena | Goals | Goals | Fiorentina |
|---|---|---|---|
| Defrel, Gregoire | 4 | 4 | Babacar, Khouma |
| Rodriguez, Alejandro | 2 | 3 | Cuadrado, Juan |
| Marilungo, Guido | 1 | 2 | Fernandez, Matias |
| Succi, Davide | 1 | 1 | Ilicic, Josip |
| Duric, Milan | 1 | 1 | Kurtic, Jasmin |
Here are the last 3 games of CESENA: 3 lost
| 07/12/14 | SA | Atalanta – Cesena | 3:2 | Round 14 | |||
| 03/12/14 | CI | Udinese – Cesena | 4:2 (OT) | Round 4 | |||
| 30/11/14 | SA | Cesena – Genoa | 0:3 | Round 13 |
Here are the last 3 games of FIORENTINA: 1 win, 1 draw, 1 lost
| 11/12/14 | UELG | Fiorentina – Dinamo Minsk | 1:2 | Round 6 | |||
| 05/12/14 | SA | Fiorentina – Juventus | 0:0 | Round 14 | |||
| 30/11/14 | SA | Cagliari – Fiorentina | 0:4 | Round 13 |
Here is the probable formation for Cesena (4-3-1-2): Leali; Capelli, Volta, Lucchini, Renzetti; De Feudis, Cascione, Carbonero; Brienza; Defrel, Hugo Almeida
Unavailable: Marilungo, Perico
Here is the probable formation for Fiorentina (3-5-2): Neto; Savic, G. Rodriguez, Basanta; Joaquin, Aquilani, Pizarro, B. Valero, Alonso; Mati Fernandez, M. Gomez
Unavailable: Rossi, Bernardeschi, Pasqual, Lupatelli, Babacar
Photo: facebook.com/cesenacalcio
2014 – 2015 Italian Serie A Week 15
Cesena – Fiorentina
Sunday 14 December 2014
Dino Manuzzi Stadium
Cesena, Italy
15:00
Referee: ORSATO
Assistants: MELI – GALLONI
Fourth Official: POSADO
ADD1: GIACOMELLI
ADD2: GHERSINI
Goals: 44′ Borja Valero (F), 47′ Stefan Savic (F), 60′ Stefan Savic (own goal) , 79′ Gonzalo Rodriguez (F), 90’Mounir El Hamdaoui (F)
Official formations – lineups:
CESENA (5-3-2): Leali; Nica, Capelli, Volta, Lucchini, Mazzotta; Carbonero, Cascione, Coppola; Defrel, Hugo Almeida.
Subs: Agliardi, Bressan, DeFeudis, Rodríguez, Magnusson, Djurić, Succi, Tabanelli, Cazzola, Pulzetti, Garritano, José Eduardo.
Coach: Domenico Di Carlo.
FIORENTINA (3-5-1-1): Neto; Basanta, Gonzalo Rodríguez, Savić; Joaquín, Aquilani, Pizarro, Borja Valero, Alonso; Fernández; Gómez.
Subs: Tătărușanu, Lezzerini, Richards, Badelj, Vargas, Marin, Kurtić, Tomović, Iličić, El Hamdaoui.
Coach. Vincenzo Montella.
Match Stats