Fiorentina look to Tottenham Hotspur as Europa League stepping stone

Date: 16th December 2014 at 4:04pm
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Europa LeagueItaly are the best represented nation in the Europa League with five sides in the knockout stage and it’s now a massively important competition now for Serie A’s reputation. Roma, Napoli and Inter are all among bookies’ favourites to win the competition. But then, above unfancied relegation scrappers Torino, sit Fiorentina who will face Tottenham Hotspur in the round of 32.

The two sides have never met in European competition but Spurs did beat the Viola 3–0 in the Bill Nicholson testimonial at White Hart Lane in August 2001. The clubs are similar both in terms of their history and in how their 2014-15 campaigns are going. The side from Florence are in that bracket of teams who can win the cup if at their very best but it will be hard for Vincenzo Montella’s side to go all the way to the final. The English side will be tough opponents but to win a European trophy you have to take big scalps.

The meeting between Spurs and the Viola should be interesting for a multitude of reasons.

Both clubs are of similar size and straddle the cruel wasteland between those who can realistically contend for the championship and those that settle for mid-table mediocrity. The pair have a glorious tradition and history of playing good football but relatively few trophies to show for it.

In the 1970s and 1980s the Tuscans had the long-haired Giancarlo Antognoni earning the crowd’s affection with his elegance in midfield. In north London the long-haired playmaker Glenn Hoddle amazed crowds with his creativity and skill.

Fiorentina have been struggling in the league and would have hoped to be higher than eighth going into the Christmas break. The Europa League has however been Fiorentina’s silver lining so far this campaign after they qualified with relative ease and topped Group K.

UEFA’s junior competition has provided them with the opportunity to see what younger players like Federico Bernardeschi or squad players like Juan Vargas, Milan Badelj or Micah Richards can do, and they have played well when given the chance. Against Tottenham, Montella will have to go with what he believes to be his full-strength side but there is no reason why the players mentioned can’t fight their way into that.

These things are impossible to predict but when Fiorentina travel to London on February 19 they could have their three forwards, Khouma Babacar, Mario Gomez and Giuseppe Rossi, back after their various misfortunes. The German should be back up to full fitness and will have had a run of league games in which to recapture his goalscoring form.

Gomez - FiorentinaGomez isn’t always the most elegant striker but if gets on a roll he will be difficult to stop. While Spurs have a world-class goalkeeper in Hugo Lloris, the defenders in front of him do have a habit of leaving the Frenchman exposed. And it will be interesting to see how Juan Cuadrado fares against Spurs’s attack-minded, quick but sometimes defensively vulnerable full-backs.

Fiorentina also have players who have experience of playing in England. The likes of Micah Richards, Marcos Alonso, Alberto Aquilani, Marko Marin and David Pizarro will want to make the most of their experience and help educate their teammates. By contrast, the ex-Roma man, Tottenham’s Erik Lamela, will look to display some of his magic on his first visit back to Italy.

Both sides have stuttered in the league whilst showing brief glimpses of the philosophies that Montella and Mauricio Pochettino expound but both could be reaching top form by the time February comes around. Neither look like they can mount a realistic challenge for Champions League qualification, and so it will be on both clubs’ mind that the team that lifts the Europa League trophy will also qualify for the extremely lucrative tournament.

Babacar scores - Guingamp v FiorentinaThe pair have both looked more impressive on the road than at home and it could therefore be a curious disadvantage for the Viola to play the return leg at the Artemio Franchi. They will have to be wary of Tottenham who have an uncanny habit of grabbing last-minute winners away from home as of late.

But it promises to be a close encounter between two sides that need to respect the competition and that have many similar flaws. Fiorentina will think they can win the Europa League and one way of proving that will be to beat a side of a very similar stature, in this instance being Tottenham.

 

One response to “Fiorentina look to Tottenham Hotspur as Europa League stepping stone”

  1. Stnicolas says:

    Similar stature? not where Spurs need to be at all and must build and improve to be classed among the elite or what’s the point!