Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Italiano explains why he decided to drop both centre-forwards for the Conference League clash with KRC Genk. ‘They can be decisive off the bench, like Ciro Immobile for Lazio.’
It kicks off at the Stadio Franchi at 20.00 GMT.
With the goals drying up, the coach decided to leave both M’Bala Nzola and Lucas Beltran on the bench, favouring Christian Kouame instead.
“I think they can be decisive coming off the bench too, just like we saw the impact Ciro Immobile had for Lazio in the Champions League,” Italiano told Sky Sport Italia.
Immobile came on as a substitute against Celtic and scored twice late on.
“When the opposition defence has tired legs, you can get that extra burst of pace off the bench. Besides, Kouame knows how we’ve been working over the years, and considering we expect Genk to be aggressive this evening, he can attack the space.”
There are changes in defence, as Yerry Mina gets a rare start after a long injury lay-off, though Michael Kayode is only on the bench following his sprained ankle.
“Just as we were intensifying in training, Mina had this injury on international duty that slowed his progress. He is a top level player, I like the way he leads the defence. He can also do well in one-on-one situations and, seeing as Genk caused us problems with set plays last time, he can be useful there too.”
Giacomo Bonaventura is out with a muscular issue, while Rolando Mandragora has flu symptoms and is not even in the squad.
“Antonin Barak had a serious physical problem that kept him out for a while. We know what he can give and he needs more minutes to find full fitness, but I hope he can give his contribution.”
Fiorentina are struggling in Serie A, but are currently top of their Conference League group and a win today against KRC Genk will guarantee qualification to the knockout phase.
“We seem to be able to speed the play up in the Conference League and make the right choices. We need to bring that attitude with us into Serie A and I hope from the next round we can rediscover that quality in the final third.”