Vincenzo Italiano and Cristiano Biraghi want to go as ‘far as possible’ in the Conference League and the coach ensures Fiorentina ‘won’t underestimate’ any opponent.
The Tuscans host FK RFS at the Stadio Franchi tomorrow in their opening group stage game. Fiorentina qualified after eliminating Twente from the playoffs.
“We’re ready and focused, we won’t underestimate any opponent. We’ve learnt this in Europe from the games against Twente,” Italiano said at a press conference.
“Every detail matters. We want to do our best in the competition. I don’t know how far we can go. The difficulties are that perhaps we don’t know our opponents as much as we think we do.
“Look at how Twente played in Florence and then in Holland. We can expect anything. We want to show our qualities and give them a difficult time,” the coach continued.
“We need a convinced approach in every game. If you start better than your opponents, it means that you prepared the game well. We often do it, especially at home.
“We want to go as far as possible in this challenging competition. The second part will become even trickier when teams are dropped from Europa League.
“Over the last few years, Atalanta made an extraordinary path, but it didn’t take two minutes. They are an example to all those who want to do well across three competitions.
“Nico Gonzalez is still dealing with a problem, we’ll decide whether he will be available or not. Raneri and Gollini will play.”
Captain Biraghi also offered his view on the upcoming European fixture: “Against Twente, it was Europa League level, more than Conference League. We will do our best and take it game after game. It takes time to build something big. We did well last season, we’ve been together just one year,” he said.
“It’s the first game in Europe after many years, so it’s not easy to set a target. We’ll give our best in every game. We are building an important base thanks to the coach. We reached an incredible target last season, finishing ahead of teams who were favourite [to go to Europe]. We have room for improvement, we are ready for this competition, we set no limit to ourselves.”