Fiorentina has the chance to close the championship with 62 points because there are still 12 up for grabs between now and the end: Monza at home tonight and Napoli immediately after – provided that De Laurentiis agrees because the 17th falls on a Friday … -, these are two great opportunities to try and capture as many victories. Then the away match in Cagliari, in which case it will be necessary to understand whether the Sardinians will be safe or not and finally on 2 June the recovery with Atalanta who are flying, but who will have already reached the two finals, the Italian Cup and the Europa League. In short, for the Viola, picking up 12 points will be a feat, but not impossible.
Lazio is now ahead by 9 points: the Biancocelesti, who yesterday celebrated 50 years since their first scudetto, will face Inter in Milan and finish in Rome against Sassuolo. If they score 4 points they will secure seventh place, but if they score 3 in a possible finish on par with Fiorentina, we will look at the goal difference because in head-to-head matches there is parity. However, Lazio is already in Europe. Let’s say that eighth place for Fiorentina, i.e. still Conference, is more than possible, especially because there will be a direct clash with Napoli in a few days, while Fiorentina will need a miracle for the Europa League. But it’s worth trying for pride and dignity. In fact, tonight there is no sign of a massive turnover like in Salerno and Verona. Belotti and Ikone were not called up due to physical problems, Italiano has the wingers counted out. A possible lineup could be this: Terracciano, then Kayode, Milenkovic, Ranieri, Parisi, with Lopez and Duncan in midfield, Gonzalez, Barak or Beltran and Castrovilli behind Nzola.
Speaking of “Castro”: it seems that he hasn’t signed for any team yet, while Italiano is relaunching him in style for the championship matches (Gaetano is out of the UEFA list). The Viola coach had important words for him after Verona. The footballer is unquestionable for his professionalism, technique, tactical sense and eye for goal. In Fiorentina he is absolutely one of the best. A player like this costs a lot if you look for him on the market and then the question arises spontaneously: why doesn’t Fiorentina try to keep him? If there is room to negotiate further, why not get him signed? The club should avoid making a mistake like this, letting slip a rediscovered element that is fine in Florence. Between free agents and those who will not renew, Fiorentina will lose many at the end of the season and will have to renew their squad. At least from some fixed points it would be good to start again.
In the meantime, the Viola fans are dealing with difficulties in going to Athens: the trip is difficult on a logistical level, it is expensive, there are not enough stopovers for charters, so much so that to date the number of Fiorentina supporters leaving for the capital of Greece is estimated at around 3,000 units compared to a availability of 9,400 coupons. If these numbers remain, only a third of the fans will be able to follow the team. Without forgetting the serious public order problems that the Greek government, in agreement with UEFA, will have to face and resolve. It’s a great shame that these inconveniences exist and anyone who has the opportunity should work to make this trip easier.
Olympiacos lost in Thessaloniki and are fourth in the table, 5 points behind leaders AEK Athens. In the next two matches the Viola’s opponents will have to deal with AEK and then with third-placed Panathinaikos. They will be two very heated derbies which we hope will take some energy away from Olympiacos. And now Monza.
