Fiorentina director Daniele Pradé hints that Vincenzo Italiano’s future has already been decided, but the team must ‘honour Joe Barone’s memory.’
The match with Juventus kicks off at the Allianz Juventus Stadium at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).
The Viola are forced to rotate their squad going into the Europa Conference League quarter-final first leg against Viktoria Plzen, having already played on Wednesday in the Coppa Italia semi-final victory over Atalanta.
They have not managed an away victory since December and that is proving to be an obstacle.
“With every week that passes, we fall further behind the teams ahead of us, but the season is not over and this is a very important match for us,” Prade told DAZN.
There are multiple reports that Italiano is being lined up to join Napoli next season, as there were already rumours the coach had told director Barone, who died of a heart attack last month, that he would leave in the summer.
“It’s not a problem right now. After everything that happened, Vincenzo and the President met, we must focus on the present and achieve something to honour Joe’s memory.
“We all love Italiano, he is a leader, we know he will carry on what we are doing,” added Prade.
Andrea Belotti arrived on loan from Roma in January and is already a fan favourite for his remarkable work-rate, but just like with the Giallorossi, is not finding the net.
“What he’s doing for us is already a great deal. Belotti and Faraoni arrived in January, Gallo is a great professional and we’re pleased with how he is playing. Of course, if he scored more goals, we’d be even happier.”
Grazie mister. You brought us to 2 cup finals, something we, at Fiorentina, had not experienced for years.