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Fiorentina File: Sampdoria 1 Fiorentina 1

It’s tough for the Fiorentinas of this world. We have tradition, in the late fifties we finshed first or runners up 5 seasons running and were the first Italian club to reach a European final against the mighty Real Madrid and the first to win one, the old European Cup Winners Cup v Glasgow Rangers.

Since then we won the scudetto once in 1968 and a few Italian coppas. In the era of Batistuta and the cinema moguls Mario and Vittorio Cecchi Gori as owners in the 1990s we reached the semi finals of the Cup Winners Cup again but financial irregularities consigned us to Serie c.

We have revived again under the Dalle Valle bothers who own Tod shoes. However with Serie A  only allocated 3 Champions League positions it’s been Juventus, Napoli and Roma who have taken them. If we get a decent manager or talented players like Federico Bernardeschi or Marcos Alonso they move onto to Juventus or Chelsea.

We have done good business with the Premier. Nastasic, Jovetic, Caudrado and Alonso were sold for 100m euros to Manchester City and Chelsea and in came for dinner  much, much less Claudio Pizarro from Manchester City, Borja Valero from WBA, Kalinicic from Blackburn, Jordan Verretout and Claudio Sanchez from Aston Villa who have all done well and/or sold on profitably.

We are a solid Serie A outfit but not in the Champions League. You might compare us to Spurs who a few years ago we beat but who are now ahead of us.

Last night we played Sampdoria in Genoa. The game was originally scheduled for the first day of the season but after the Mirandi Bridge disaster causing 42 deaths it was rearranged for the strange time of 7 pm last night.

The first half was fluid and Il Viola  dominated. Young Giovanni Simeone, son of Atletico manager Diego, might have scored in the first minute and did so when he headed in Briaghi’s cross.

Another son of a famous player Federico –  son of Enrico Chiesa – makes for a young exciting forward line but how long will it be before a Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus or one of the Premier clubs make their €60 million bids for one of them?

The second half was less eventful and Caspari equalised for la Samp. New signings for us Mirales, the Belgian international and Pjaca from Juve made promising debuts. Under experienced coach Stefano Pioli we look to have the potential to disturb the hegemony of Juventus, Roma and Napoli.

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About Stefano Ursolini

The son of a leading Florentine art dealer, Stefano initially worked in the Uffizi Gallery. He went into journalism and soon became a popular stringer writing on Tuscan wines, art and football. Stefano lives with his partner Umberto in the Santa Croce quarter of Florence. A dedicated supporter of AC Fiorentina his elegant articles on the Viola as well as the Serie A have earned him an appreciative global audience. More Posts