Movin' On Up - Fiorentina 2-1 Dnipro

Fiorentina finished an unbeaten group stage in the Europa League today by defeating Dnipro 2-1 on goals by Joaquin and Juan Cuadrado, win the group and will be seeded in the top group for the next stage draw.

The win also won la Viola some cash as they earned 200,000 euros for the win, 400,000 euros for winning the group and a 200,000 euro bonus for reaching the round of 32.

The draw for the next stage will be Monday, December 16th and the matches will be played on February 20th and February 27th, 2014

Report Cards

I didn't get to see the match, so feel feel to rate the players yourself

Norberto Neto

Facundo Roncaglia
Gonzalo Rodriguez
Stefan Savic
Manuel Pasqual

Massimo Ambrosini
Borja Valero
Matias Fernandez

Juan Cuadrado
Ryder Matos
Joaquin Sanchez

Subs
David Pizarro (for Fernandez '70)
Josep Ilicic (for Matos '76)
Alberto Aquilani (for Cuadrado '80)

Quotes

Vincenzo Montella:

"Going undefeated in Europe is always difficult, even if our group was a little unbalanced due to only us and Dnipro challenging for the lead."

"Dnipro have a fine squad, but over the two matches we deserved to finish on top. I saw a mature team today, as we were calm, controlled the match and tried to score a third goal, as well."

"Now the competition gets more interesting and more difficult. We are pleased to be able to measure ourselves agaisnt sides who were in the Champions League earlier this season."

Hi Lights

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Europa League Goals

(Players scoring in this match have an *)

Cuadrado (3) *
Matos (3)
Joaquin (2) *
Rodriguez (2) 
Ambrosini(1)
Rossi (1)
Valero (1)

Europa League Yellow Card Accumulation

1 game suspension after three yellow cards in three different matches
(Players receiving yellow cards in this match have an *, red cards #)

Bakic(2)  - Misses a match on next card
Cuadrado(2) - Misses a match on next card
Fernandez (2) *  - Misses a match on next card
Pizarro(2)  - Misses a match on next card
Alonso (1)
Ambrosini (1) *
Aquilani (1)
Compper (1)
Matos(1)
Rodriguez (1)
Roncaglia (1) *
Valero (1)

Looking Ahead

This weekend is another of those matches that Fiorentina must win to keep any hopes of the Champions League alive. Bolgona are second bottom, with only 12 points all season, with only 1 win and 2 draws on the road, while being outscored 7 to 14 on their travels. Dropped points this weekend will not be acceptable in any way, shape or form.

Follow that up with 4th bottom Sassuolo, with only 2 wins and 1 draw at home, scoring 8 goals and giving up 17 while being the host and it certainly seems like a must 3 pointer.

After that comes the winter break and mercato, and we all know what happens to this team during breaks...


Dec 15 9:00 ET Fiorentina v Bologna
Dec 22 9:00 ET Sassuolo v Fiorentina
Winter Break
Jan 6 9:00 ET Fiorentina v Livorno
Jan 9 2:45 ET Fiorentina v Chievo Verona (Coppa Italia)
Jan 12 9:00 ET Torino v Fiorentina
Jan 19 9:00 ET Catania v Fiorentina