Conference League, Fiorentina toward the final: Vincenzo Italiano does not forget

Merceday evening the final between Fiorentina and Olympiacos

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Twelve months after the bitter defeat against West Ham in the final of the 2022/23 Conference League, Fiorentina returns to play for the same trophy and this time they will face the Greeks of Olympiacos, who were literally able to annihilate, in the semifinals, one of the favorites to win the trophy, Aston Villa. Vincenzo Italiano made his remarks on the eve of the match, at the microphones of 'Sky Sport'.

The coach of the violets è to his third final, after those of the Conference and Italian Cup 2022/23, and does not forget those experiences: "We will try to take advantage of what we have learned from the finals played last year – he said -: we know the dangers but also the stimuli of such matches. For us è an important rematch, we are glad to have her available".

The goal è to dispel the tabù after defeats in last year’s two finals, bringing back to Florence a European trophy that has been missing since 1961, when the violets coached by Nandor Hidegkuti beat Rangers 2-1 in the Cup Winners Cup final. "Getting to play finals is not è simple – said Italiano -, è the result of a complex path full of obstacles. It è not taken for granted, but in two years we got to play three".

Fiorentina has played, in total, five finals in top-level European cups: in addition to the victorious Cup Winners Cup final in '61 and the more unlucky one in 2023, the Viola in 1957 lost 2-0 to Real Madrid in the Champions Cup, in 1962 lost on the 'replay' (3-0 after the 1-1 in the first 90') against Atletico Madrid, while in 1990 they surrendered in the double-header against Juventus (3-1 and 0-0) in the last act of the Uefa Cup.