Delio Rossi faces his old club Fiorentina and Adem Ljajic, the player he punched in a dugout brawl. “I already apologised. It’s over.”
Delio Rossi faces his old club Fiorentina and Adem Ljajic, the player he punched in a dugout brawl. “I already apologised. It’s over.”
The Sampdoria Coach had been in charge of the Viola on May 2 2012 when he became enraged at Ljajic’s sarcastic response to a substitution.
Rossi attacked the teenage striker in the dugout and had to be pulled away by members of staff (scroll down for video). He was sacked straight after the game and now media are speculating over whether he’ll shake Ljajic’s hand before today’s encounter.
“The situation is clear: I apologised to everyone straight after the game, including Ljajic. It’s over and has been over since the 90th minute of that match,” insisted Rossi, who received a three-month ban.
“What’s done is done, but I still hold good memories of my time in Florence. I’ll say hello to everyone, why shouldn’t I? On match day I will be Fiorentia’s opponent, but certainly not their enemy.”
Nenad Krsticic and Andrea Costa are unavailable for the Blucerchiati, while Maxi Lopez could replace the not 100 per cent fit Mauro Icardi.
“Fiorentina have one of the best midfields in Serie A and are doing very well to build their moves from the back, so we must cut off their supply and hopefully go on rapid counter-attacks.
“Vincenzo Montella is doing a great job as Coach, just as he did before that at Catania. He was a great player, so he has an elevated sensibility for football. There are some players who have that ‘something’ and Montella was one of them.”