Vincenzo Italiano celebrates Fiorentina flying into fifth place with a 3-2 victory away to Bologna. ‘We want to maintain this position.’
The Viola had lost four on the bounce outside the Stadio Franchi, but held on after a Rossoblu comeback for all three points.
“We were coming off an away match where we thought we’d won and instead ended up with zero points, creating this enormous disappointment,” Italiano told DAZN, referring to the late Empoli comeback.
Serie A | Bologna 2-3 Fiorentina: Vlahovic sends Viola fifth
“Today we dealt with the situation differently when 3-1 up. We could’ve avoided the situation for their second goal, but the fact remains we allowed very few chances.
“I am happy for the lads, I heard people talk of us having some sort of taboo on our travels, but we proved that wrong too. Now we must prepare for the next match and see if we can make that step up in quality.”
The result has put Fiorentina in fifth place, allowing them to leapfrog Roma, and put themselves firmly in contention for European qualification.
“The leading pack have something extra and are going at a remarkable place, but we are closest to them and want to maintain this position. There are three games left to complete the first half of the season, then we’ll see where we are.”
Italiano surprised by choosing Youssouf Maleh in the starting XI, but it paid off with his debut Serie A goal.
“When Riccardo Sottil and Nico Gonzalez attack, the wing-backs push up, so I wanted pace when we won it back to break from midfield.
“I know that Maleh can fill the box on their weak side and that is what happened. We prepared this tactically in minute detail and did well.”