Fiorentina, good on Sunday test but Mandragora not satisfied

Rolando Mandragora speaks on the sidelines of Nice-Fiorentina, which ended 1-2

Fiorentina defeated Nice 2-1 in the match played Sunday in Newcastle as part of the friendly series under the ‘Sela Cup’ umbrella. Scoring for the Vincenzo Italiano-coached team were Luka Jovic in the 17th minute and Christian Kouamé in the 35th minute. Badredine Bouanani’s goal, five minutes into the 90th minute, only served to keep the Rossoneri from running out of steam.

On the sidelines of the challenge, Rolando Mandragora spoke to reporters about the match: “Nice is a good team, we managed to win and it was not a given. We must not settle but I also think that the fatigue of the training camp has dulled some of the quality of our game, it is normal that the workloads do not allow us to be at 100 percent yet. Definitely our goal is to be so at the first league game.”

Fiorentina’s starting eleven, lined up with 4-2-3-1, included Terracciano in goal, Kayode, Quarta, Ranieri and Parisi on the defensive line, Amatucci and Mandragora in the middle, and Kouame, Sabiri and Ikoné behind Jovic in attack. Munteanu, debutant Infantino and Kokorin then took over in the second half.

Fiorentina will play its first league match on Saturday, August 19, at home of newly promoted Genoa. It will then play two more matches before the break, on August 27 at home against Lecce and on September 3 at the San Siro against European vice-champion Inter.