“It is up to Club to force something, we want the cup”: Fiorentina has arrived in Bruges with confidence

Fort Jan Breydel: that doesn’t exactly keep them awake in Florence. “We know they have prepared a tifo. They will be on their toes. But we just have to stay calm,” said coach Vincenzo Italiano. Fiorentina wants to go to Athens via Bruges. To flush out that hellish hangover from Prague. “We want that cup at the end of the month.”

Make no mistake: the Conference League final is also happening in Italy. For Fiorentina it would be the second time in a row – last season they saw West Ham lift the cup in Prague. And that’s exactly why La Viola keen on final victory in Athens. “We start with a small lead,” coach Vincenzo Italiano said. He addressed about 20 Italian journalists in Jan Breydel. “But make no mistake: we will have to stay focused every second. Details will make the difference. We also saw that during the first leg. But if we bring more quality and concentration, the final should be possible. At the end of the month we want to take a cup home with us.”

There is no goal scorer

They also heard in Florence that it will burn tomorrow in Bruges. “The supporters will prepare a big tifo, the players will be sharp: my team will have to be ready,” says Italiano. “What should we do? Just stay calm, don’t get carried away. We have had a great run in Europe, and we are now 90 minutes from a new final. Club Brugge will keep the pace high to cause us problems. But we also want to score. We come to Bruges to win.”

We can expect some changes at Fiorentina: Sottil – who scored an unprecedented 1-0 last week – is not available due to a collarbone injury. Bonaventura is also questionable. “But that doesn’t change our ambition: scoring goals and winning,” added Lucas Martinez Quarta. “Preparing for such a competition is something different. You can be eliminated immediately. But after the first leg we have confidence and we just want to get to that final.”

Previously blueie in semi-finals

Did Italiano learn anything after the match in Florence? “Certainly,” the coach added. “But Club actually played as we expected. They are strong with the ball at their feet and like to attack. But they can also place a defensive block. And again: they will want to impose the rhythm to cut off our legs. Anyway, we know that Club Brugge has to score and will want to force something. It is up to us to give an appropriate answer to that.”

Fiorentina recently lost out in a semi-final: in the Coppa Italia, after taking a 1-0 lead in the first leg against Atalanta, they were still eliminated with heavy numbers. The Italian colleagues wanted to know whether this would play a role tomorrow. “We cannot compare the two situations,” says Italiano. “A red card killed us there. We made two mistakes against Club Brugge last week that allowed them to score, and we can’t let that happen now. Because at this level the smallest mistakes are punished. If we do our thing, it will be a good evening for us.”