Stefano Pioli believes Fiorentina still have a chance to reach the Coppa Italia final, after a 3-3 at home in the semi-final first leg against Atalanta.
Papu Gomez and Marko Pasalic gave La Dea a two goal lead in two minutes, midway through the first half. However, Fiorentina bagged two of their own in three minutes, just after the half hour, as Federico Chiesa and Marco Benassi ensured the teams went in level at the break.
Marten De Roon put Atalanta in front again with a phenomenal strike early in the second half, but Luis Muriel equalised for Fiorentina with 15 minutes to go.
“Atalanta now have an advantage with this result, but we can still have a chance,” Pioli told reporters after the game.
“The third goal was the worst one. The other goals were due to their ability too, on the third goal we should have defended better.
“We didn’t deserve to concede the third goal, but we got an important result in the end. Of course, it’s not what we wanted.
“The level of both teams is similar, I believe we have good players, and so do Atalanta.
“Our main quality is that we never give up, always have our head in the game. I’m proud of my players.”
La Dea and La Viola meet again on Monday in Serie A, before facing off in Bergamo for the second leg of the Coppa Italia semifinal on the April 24.
“The semi-final [second leg] is quite far away, but having this big objective will keep us focussed for the rest of the season,” Pioli added.
“The fans were amazing tonight, and we hope to give them something to shout about at the end of this season.”
