Vincenzo Italiano sees Fiorentina leave the Coppa Italia ‘with heads held high’ after a 2-0 semi-final defeat to Juventus. ‘We tried everything and perhaps tried too hard at times.’
The Viola knew they had a mountain to climb after losing the first leg 1-0 to a very unlucky Lorenzo Venuti own goal.
Federico Bernardeschi made sure tonight with a chest and volley after Bartlomiej Dragowski howler, while Danilo met the Juan Cuadrado assist in stoppages for a 2-0 result, 3-0 on aggregate.
Coppa Italia Semi-Final | Juventus 2-0 Fiorentina (3-0 agg): Bernardeschi books Final
“It was always going to be difficult to overturn the first leg result, we tried everything possible and perhaps tried too hard in the first half, allowing two or three avoidable counter-attacks, which is why I got angry,” Italiano told Mediaset.
“We came here to take the game to Juventus, we could’ve created more in the second half, but it’s tough when Juve defend like that.”
Nikola Milenkovic pulled out with a stomach bug and Lucas Torreira went off injured at half-time.
“I tried to throw all the quality we had onto the pitch, but unfortunately didn’t get that little bit of luck to get the breakthrough. I believe we go out with heads held high, because controlling possession and creating chances here already means a lot.
“The objective here was to keep the tie open to the end. Unfortunately, we could’ve been at 0-0 going into half-time, but Jonathan Ikone lost the ball a bit too cheaply.
“When Juve are able to defend like that, they are in their element, but I saw the right attitude from my team. We confirmed tonight that we can fight it out with anyone for our objective in Serie A.
“There are three or four sides ahead of us in the Serie A table, not many points in it, so we’ll see what happens.”
Federico Bernardeschi shows great technique to open the scoring on the night and double Juve’s aggregate lead! ⚫⚪
A gift from Drągowski to the former Fiorentina man 🎁 pic.twitter.com/ZWbiRQXrlc
— Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) April 20, 2022