Vincenzo Italiano has insisted that his side will have to ‘start from scratch’ in their Conference League journey, having fallen at the last hurdle in last season’s final against West Ham.
The Fiorentina coach conducted his press conference ahead of the Conference League play-off clash against Rapid Vienna, which kicks off at 18.00 BST on Thursday evening.
Italiano insisted that La Viola will have learned a lot from last season’s European journey, but remained adamant that anything can happen in football and the team cannot take anything for granted against the Austrian side.
Vienna are also ahead of Fiorentina in terms of their schedule, having already played four league games and two in the Conference League qualifying process, something that the players must be wary of according to the coach.
“It’s been an important and extremely satisfying two years,” Italiano told the press on Wednesday evening. “There has been growth. We wanted to create an identity, reach some important milestones and increase enthusiasm. All of this has been achieved. Now we start again with the new season, returning from two finals.”
“Each match is a story of its own, you have to start from scratch, putting what happened last year in the back of our minds. It’s an important match and we will play for 180 minutes, maybe even more.
“Rapid have played many more games than us and they won 5-0 away: they are further ahead but we will fight like we did against Twente. That playoff was difficult but I am convinced that this one will be too.
“There are 30,000 seats in the ground, we are expecting an intimidating environment, but we can let ourselves be intimidated by intense atmospheres at this stage.”
“On the pitch we will have to show our quality, we have studied them over the past fortnight, looking at their qualities, strengths and weaknesses: now it’s up to us to do our best.”
He added that this summer’s acquisitions have come in and brought a new level of positivity around the club.
“Quality players have come in with a smile and with enthusiasm. If we have any gaps, we can fill them with new ones. We have already shown what we can do during pre-season and on the first day. We will try to continue along this path, maybe increasing a few numbers.”
Italiano also provided an update on a number of unavailable players, which includes Morocco international Sofyan Amrabat, who has not travelled with the group as speculation continues to mount regarding his future.
“Sabiri has had a knee problem for a few days, today he didn’t feel 100% and we preferred to leave him at home. Ikoné has had a little problem with his adductor since the Newcastle match.
“Amrabat will work separately, he remained in Florence and in these two days he will follow his own programme,” Italiano said.