Fiorentina secured a vital 2-1 victory against Milan at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, with De Gea playing a crucial role by saving two penalties. Yacine Adli and Albert Gudmundsson were the goalscorers for the Viola. After the match, Fiorentina’s head coach Raffaele Palladino shared his thoughts on the team’s performance.
Palladino began by praising Gudmundsson: “He’s a champion, a very important player for us. He arrived late in the last days of the transfer market and had some muscle issues from his pre-season with Genoa. We didn’t have him immediately, we let him recover, and now he needs to find his best form. He’s unpredictable but also sacrifices himself for his teammates. Today, like Kean, he also did well in the defensive phase.”
The coach also had kind words for Kean: “Usually, strikers live for goals, and when you miss a penalty, you can get down and let it affect your game. What impressed me about Moise is that he continued to fight and help the team. He’s the embodiment of the whole team, an example because of his enormous spirit of sacrifice. He can still grow a lot, but we’re happy with what he did today and what he’s doing for us.”
Speaking about the team’s overall performance, Palladino said: “I always tell the team that we defend together and attack together. Today we had a great defensive phase, and playing like this against Milan wasn’t easy. I liked the whole team. Defending together gives you great human values too, because the spirit of sacrifice is important. Today you can’t afford to have two or three players who don’t defend because in Serie A you find teams that create difficulties. We can improve in terms of play, but we needed a victory like this, as a team and with great emotions.”
Regarding the penalty takers, Palladino clarified: “The first penalty taker is Gudmundsson, the second is Moise. Today there was altruism because Gudmundsson allowed Moise to take the penalty. At the end of the match, they were joking with each other. I like it to be this way because it’s not just between players, but between men. You talk to each other and you have to be human in certain situations.”
