Fiorentina fumbled a 2-0 lead, but eventually beat Bundesliga 2 side Eintracht Braunschweig 3-2 with Federico Chiesa’s brace.
Stefano Pioli fielded Nikola Kalinic despite continuing transfer rumours, but above all gave new buy Jordan Veretout his first start in midfield.
Teenager Chiesa was unstoppable by scoring twice in the opening 12 minutes, both of them by running on to Ante Rebic through balls.
Fiorentina fumbled a 2-0 lead, but eventually beat Bundesliga 2 side Eintracht Braunschweig 3-2 with Federico Chiesa’s brace.
Stefano Pioli fielded Nikola Kalinic despite continuing transfer rumours, but above all gave new buy Jordan Veretout his first start in midfield.
Teenager Chiesa was unstoppable by scoring twice in the opening 12 minutes, both of them by running on to Ante Rebic through balls.
Kalinic thought he’d added a third, but was denied by a Robin Becker goal-line clearance, and Onel Hernandez sprung the offside trap to pull one back for the hosts.
Chiesa’s pass sent Kalinic clear, but again he failed to finish it off and fired straight at the on-rushing goalkeeper.
Khouma Babacar came on for the second half and immediately missed a sitter when released by Chiesa, while Rafik Zekhnini couldn’t reach Babacar’s assist for a tap-in.
Instead, Hernandez completed the German comeback from 2-0 down after a dismal goal kick from Bartlomiej Dragowski.
Vitor Hugo was also denied by a goal-line clearance and Hernandez risked a hat-trick, forcing Dragowski to save with his legs.
Fiorentina won 3-2 thanks to a Nikola Milenkovic header on Ianis Hagi’s corner.
Fiorentina 3-2 Eintracht Braunschweig
Chiesa 10, 12 (F), Hernandez 26, 67 (EB), Milenkovic 77 (F)
Fiorentina: Dragowski; Tomovic (Ranieri 69), Milenkovic, Astori (Hugo 46), Maxi Olivera (Gaspar 46); Cristoforo, Veretout (Sanchez 69); Chiesa (Sottil 69), Mati Fernandez (Hagi 46), Rebic (Zekhnini 46); Kalinic (Babacar 46)
Eintracht Braunschweig: Engelhardt, Biada, Samson, Becker, Nkansah, Hernandez, Sauer, Kijewski, Tietz, Dacaj, Blyszko