Vincenzo Italiano believes it’s been an ‘incredible year’ for Fiorentina after they qualified for the final of the Coppa Italia. La Viola progressed after holding Cremonese to a goalless draw in the second-leg of the competition, having won the first leg 2-0 in Lombardy. It’s been an impressive campaign for Italiano’s men as they’ve also made it to the Conference League semi-finals, where FC Basel await them. The coach spoke with Mediaset (as quoted by FirenzeViola) after qualification was confirmed and talked through a ‘mature’ match, their 50th in all competitions, and explained why they may have dropped off in the league as a result of their cup aspirations:
“This year is incredible. If I’m not mistaken it’s the 50th game, but we keep going strong. We played a mature match, defending the double lead. This is the gift for all the public who pushed us, we are happy to have given this dream.”
“Conceding goals could have jeopardized a game in which we were ahead. In the Conference League we did not manage well, but we learned our lesson by not conceding anything to Cremonese. Then on the corners and the many crosses we could have been more focused and scored goals.”
“We didn’t want to concede anything, and leave spaces for Ikonè and Gonzalez. Clearly we wanted to score, but in the double headers it is important to qualify from the round. Already on Sunday we start again, there is an important competition.”
“Have we dropped gears in the league? In my opinion a little something gets taken away in all aspects. You arrive on Friday morning and then you have to play again right away. So many teams have one less game, one less round. 18 more games is a lot. There are seven games and many points left, but with the right focus we can catch up in the league as well.”
