It was an interesting week for Fiorentina in Series A. As we know, the Viola won their match v. Palermo 1-0 to stay four points up in the race for the fourth and final Champions League spot. Milan won big (and looked good doing it) and are thus four back. Trailing Fiorentina by the same amount of points is Samp, who dispatched Udinese this weekend and essentially eliminated them from Champions League contention. (Udinese is not only seven points back but would also have to pass three other teams to finish fourth.) Thus, now there are three.
The Viola host Samp this Sunday. A win by the home team would virtually eliminate Samp and make it a two-horse race, assuming Milan wins. As detailed in an earlier column, I do believe Fiorentina have the easiest schedule of the contenders coming in, but a win on Sunday is vital to keep them in the driver’s seat.
But first, there is the little matter of a game in Scotland on Thursday. That, of course, is the first leg of the UEFA Cup semi-final with Rangers. I will be previewing that game on Wednesday, but suffice it to say it is occupying my mind pretty completely right now. I would also like to hear any thought from folks on the comment boards who are actually attending the match on Thursday.
In the meantime, here a few Fiorentina tidbits floating around the web.
First, here are the always lame player ratings from Saturday’s match, courtesy of goal.com. Take with a very largely grain of salt.
I also have a disheartening report that Ujfalusi will be out for the Rangers game following the knock he took this weekend. We’ll see. Sometimes these “injury reports” are a little sketchy.
Finally, the damn “Frey to Milan” rumor just won’t die. I’m sure they’ll offer him a (deserved) dump truck full of money, but he may also be presented with the choice of Champions League (Viola) and UEFA Cup (Milan) so we’re not quite dead yet.
I’ll be back soon!