Vincenzo Italiano believes Fiorentina are ‘not yet ready’ to challenge the likes of Juventus after their Coppa Italia exit, but tomorrow face Salernitana ‘fighting for their football lives.’
They visit revitalised Salernitana on Sunday at 11.30 UK time (10.30 GMT).
The mood is low after a midweek Coppa Italia semi-final 2-0 defeat to Juventus, which saw them eliminated 3-0 on aggregate.
“We have to get back on track by relying on those elements we are confident about, the way we play and to a degree the football we also showed in Turin, even though the incidents didn’t go in our favour,” said Italiano in his press conference.
“It’s this football that allowed us to dream big and we must stick with it. Even though we have to make changes in midfield, the identity of the team remains the same.”
Salernitana are no longer rock bottom, as they have now caught Genoa and Venezia, and still have a game in hand after back-to-back victories over Sampdoria and Udinese.
“Salernitana are fighting for their football lives here, we must avoid the same cheap mistakes we made against Juventus. The atmosphere is going to be remarkable in that stadium.
“We must realise that in three games between Serie A and the Coppa Italia, we were unable to score a single goal against Juventus. Although we caused them problems, evidently we’re not yet ready to challenge a team at that level.
“Having said that, we’ve had a fantastic campaign so far and now have six games left to end on a high.”