Posts Tagged ‘Cesare Prandelli’

Juventus 1-0 Fiorentina: Marchisio Puts Bianconeri on Top (Serie A Matchday 20)

Sunday, January 25th, 2009

The Bianconeri can pat themselves on the back. After a long climb the Old Lady reached the peak of Serie A, planting her flag at the top; some very much needed black & white colours to break the monotony of a landscape of Neroazzurro. And even if this satisfaction is short-lived (the José-boys may or may not resume their climb 24 hours later), it’s something that in terms of team morale has enormous intrinsic value. It’s a battle cry for the troops, and a clear message to the bitter rivals: “Inter Beware”.

As for the match itself, it should come as no surprises that Juventus vs. Fiorentina was the theater once again of a valiant battle; a game fought on all parts of the field, without many goals but plenty of scoring chances on either side. And the usual little zest of controversy. Indeed, La Viola may feel hard-done by a penalty non-call to Jovetic and a (wrongly) disallowed goal by Gilardino.

Juve won’t care though, the Bianconeri reached their goal: 3 points and the temporary 1st place of Serie A. Together with a big bonus: the return of their nº1 goalkeeper in net. And say all you want about Manninger’s extremely satisfactory sub role so far… the Old Lady just isn’t the same without Gigi Buffon. If you don’t believe me, just ask the Viola strikers…

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AC Milan vs. Fiorentina Preview: The Battle for UCL

Friday, January 16th, 2009

AC Milan vs. Fiorentina

Without a doubt, the biggest fixture of the upcoming Serie A weekend is Saturday’s tie between AC Milan and Fiorentina. Milan may be three places above La Viola, but only two points separate these two sides and the San Siro showdown is a very important match in terms of Champions League qualification.

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Fiorentina 1-2 Lyon: End of the UCL Line for La Viola… (UEFA Champions League 2008-09)

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008

Less fancy playing, better defending, more cynical finishing. This will be Fiorentina‘s lesson tonight after their elimination from the 2008-09 UEFA Champions League. And it sounds like an awfully familiar one. The kind that spectacular but inexperienced teams are forced to learn, as indeed La Viola’s return to Europe’s top competition demonstrated. 8 years after their last appearance, Fiorentina’s adventure ends in the Group Stage.

As for Lyon, they proved that winning seven Ligue 1 titles in a row can be a useful experience. You know, for European cups and stuff.

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Fiorentina 4-2 Udinese: Come-back Kings Wearing Violet on Saturday (Serie A Matchday 13)

Sunday, November 23rd, 2008

The perfect example of “a match of two halves”, Saturday’s Fiorentina vs. Udinese also delighted Serie A fans with a big deluge of goals, courtesy of some often shaky defending (on both sides) but more so of the great prideful reaction by Cesare Prandelli’s boys. One goal down early in the game, La Viola looked over the precipice, reacted and came back as only a great fighter would.

In particular, today’s lasting image was the big “fu** you” message (figuratively speaking) sent by Riccardo Montolivo to all his critics, after his uninspiring mid-week performance for Italy. The Viola midfielder literally took his team by the reins, providing the playmaking and the scoring, and capping a great performance with two nicely taken goals.

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Bayern Munich 3-0 Fiorentina: Viola Doing the Shooting… But Not the Scoring (UEFA Champions League 2008-09)

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

If there’s one thing that Tuesday night taught Fiorentina, it’s that by having 22 shots on target and still failing to score against Bayern Munich, you will at some point get punished. The German giants might very well be struggling in the Bundesliga at the moment, they are still a team loaded with world class players who this evening made full use of their superiority with regards to experience and cynicism.

Midway into the UCL group stage, things are now looking very difficult for Prandelli’s boys, stuck into third spot 3 points behind Lyon and 5 behind Bayern. The road leading to the playoff round has just transformed into a rocky, slippery, icy mountain path.

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