Vincenzo Italiano came so close to winning the Coppa Italia at Fiorentina and wants them to be ‘close to perfection’ with Atalanta in tomorrow’s semi-final.
The first leg kicks off on Wednesday at the Stadio Artemio Franchi at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT), with the decider in Bergamo on April 24.
This is the third consecutive season in which the Viola have reached the Coppa Italia semi-final under Italiano, although they lost the Final last term as well as the Conference League at the last hurdle.
“We are proud to again be protagonists in a tournament that we tried to face with the maximum concentration and doing our best,” the coach told the official Fiorentina website.
“We reached the semi-final the first year, last season the Final and we want to go all the way this time for something extraordinary.”
Both these teams are also in the quarter-finals of UEFA tournaments, specifically Atalanta against Liverpool in the Europa League and Fiorentina with Viktoria Plzen in the Conference League.
“Atalanta are a strong team in good shape, but this is a cup competition and we will be ready. It will inevitably be a tough match, as Atalanta always make it a battle, plus it’s a semi-final where both teams will give their all and I hope we can make as few errors as possible.
“In recent years, the games between us have always been pretty entertaining.”
Fiorentina reached the Final last season, losing to Inter, and suffered the same fate in the Conference League with West Ham United.
“Clearly, the Coppa Italia is always a difficult competition because every tiny mistake can be punished, you need to convert the chances that you create and try to be perfect. We must try to get close to perfection over these two legs.”
Lucas Martinez-Quarta is the only doubt for tomorrow, as he finished the defeat to Milan with a knock, but Giacomo Bonaventura returns after his Serie A ban.
“Now we are playing every three days, so between injuries, bans and being not fully fit, we will need everyone for the rest of the season.
“That includes the fans, and when they push us on, it gives us the energy to go beyond our limits.”
These teams were supposed to play last month in Serie A, but it was called off when Fiorentina director Joe Barone suffered a heart attack just hours before kick-off.