UEFA Cup: Fiorentina Travel to Greece

Fiorentina face AEK Athens today in great shape to move on the UEFA Cup, needing a win to go through to the next round with a match remaining. They’re currently top of Group C but, since three of the five teams will move on, even an unimaginable collapse against tiny Mladá Boleslav (yes, I know, they did beat Palermo) on Matchday 5 probably wouldn’t knock them out.

That said, AEK are one of the stronger teams in the group, and the Viola are probably quite fragile right now, having traveled to Greece immediately after attending Manuela Pradelli’s funeral yesterday. The latest reports suggest that Cesare Prandelli will, in fact, be on the bench for today’s match, even though assistant Gabriele Pin will take charge of the team. Prandelli’s presence, obviously, would dramatically increase the importance of the match for the visitors, and they will undoubtedly go out wanting to get a win for him, pressure that often causes teams to crumble.

In practical terms, Fiorentina are missing several players due to injury, including Adrian Mutu, who is still fighting to be fit for Sunday’s crucial meeting with Inter, Mario Santana, who has been healthy for about 20 minutes so far this season, and Tomas Ujfalusi. It’s expected that Pin will start Prandelli’s usual Cup side, which means Bobo Vieri will lead in the line in place of Giampaolo Pazzini, probably supported by recent Azzurrini debutant Pablo Daniel Osvaldo on one side and the tireless Franco Semioli on the other.

The Greeks, apparently, have no injuries whatsoever, while means they’ve not been to Rome lately, or if they have, definitely didn’t drink the water there. AEK are currently third in the Group C table having played only one match to Fiorentina’s two; that one match was a 1-1 draw with Elfsborg, the side the Viola demolished 6-1 last time out.

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Category: Fiorentina, Rumors & News, Serie A, UEFA Cup