UEFA Cup: Viola Try to Stop Rossi
By: Martha | October 25th, 2007
[As you may have heard, Fiorentina are still in the UEFA Cup. As you also may have heard, I'm sort of a fan. So, yes, I am going to pay attention to it and treat it like it matters. Sorry, haters.]
The Viola are in Spain today ahead of their first match of the UEFA Cup group stages, preparing to face Villarreal, the team that is, according to UEFA math, the best side in the tournament. Even if you don’t trust UEFA math, though, it’s not hard to see that the Spanish side are awfully good — they’re join second in La Liga, a single point behind front-running Real Madrid, and just handed Barcelona their first loss of the season. One Giuseppe Rossi is their leading scorer — word on the street is that things are going fairly well for him in Spain — and, though Barca were spared his wrath due to a suspension, the Azzurrini studlet will be back in the team today, looking to do as much damage to Fiorentina’s dreams as is humanly possible.
Fiorentina needed PKs to get into the knockout stage, but are off to a phenomenal start in Italy and, though Villarreal’s coach can’t resist saying he thinks Serie A pales in comparison to La Liga, he admitted that he expects a stern test today, albeit from the strength of the squad as a whole rather than their Big Names. Apparently the papers in Spain that care are ignoring him, and are full of pictures of Christian Vieri because, though it’s been a while, it’s sort of hard to forget his spectacular year with Atletico Madrid a decade ago, during which he scored 24 goals in 24 appearances and generally owned the league. (God damn.) Assuming Cesare Pradelli puts his typical European side on the field, Bobo will start today in Giampaolo Pazzini’s place, playing ahead of the ever-present Adrian Mutu. The Viola are without Franco Semioli, Riccardo Montolivo and Massimo Gobbi so, despite the timely return of old man Martin Jorgensen, the depth of their midfield is going to be tested today, and they’ll undoubtedly be happy to head home with a point.
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Comments
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I’m excited for the game too Martha - though I’m not sure how/if I’ll be able to watch it. Clearly, a point would be a great result for Fiorentina. They need to be in the top 3 of the group to advance, and this is the toughest of their group fixtures. The away trip to AEK Athens will be difficult as well, but the home matches against Elfsborg and Mlada Boleslav should bring 4-6 points.
Based on the injuries the lineup will be more of a defensive 4-4-2 than the attacking 4-3-3 Fiorentina have featured in Serie A. I’ll be curious to see how Jorgensen looks and whether Kuzmanovic can hit the broad side of a barn if he gets an open shot. But yeah, with Jorgensen and Liverani in the middle of the park, Fiorentina could be susceptible to a quick counter attack or any moves with pace out of Villareal. Man, I wish Corvino and Della Valle would buy another defensive midfielder already.
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United States
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streams are available here:
http://www.myp2p.eu/Matches/Match3.htm
but I hate downloading the software just to watch one game.
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United States -
Sorry, haters, indeed. Too many fans of the Italian game (and all other leagues) write off the UEFA Cup as meaningless. Just for this post, I hope Fiorentina does well. I was pretty neutral before.
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United States -
Well Martha, you got to be deliriously happy for awhile there. And the Viola took a page straight out of Milan’s book there - fending off their opponents until the 88th minute. Still they got a point.
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United States -
Thank you, Ian! And you, Francesco — I had all sorts of problems getting any of them to work and was totally denied apart from a quick glimpse of a French channel, but I think it was my fault because I didn’t get in early enough.
Ady, I was watching UEFA.com’s Matchcentre and may possibly have cheered wildly when it made the There’s Been a Goal! crowd-noise sound and revealed Bobo as the scorer. So close. (A point should be more than enough, though, as tmc said.)
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United States
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