:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/56069875/461080454.0.jpg)
The Serie A season may be fast approaching, but Fiorentina haven’t finished fine-tuning the purple machine yet. This upcoming game against Wolfsburg, against whom the Viola have never played, will be the final friendly on the road and the penultimate of the preseason, with only Serie C neighbors Pistoiese remaining on the schedule before the opener against Inter Milan.
The match will be played on Sunday, 6 August 2017, at 1 PM CST/8 AM EST, at the Volkswagen Arena in Wolfsburg, Germany.
Wolfsburg
Die Wölfe were even more disappointing that Fiorentina last season, which says a whole lot. They finished with just 37 points in the Bundesliga, good for just 16th place and a year-long scramble to avoid relegation that culminated with a play-off victory against Eintracht Braunschweig. It was extraordinarily bad for a team that was supposed to challenge for the Champions League, and the board has reacted by reloading the squad in such a way that Viola fans will be green with envy.
Their most familiar face, of course, belongs to Mario Gómez. The all-time Fiorentina flop had a rough start in his first season back in Germany, scoring just once in his first eight matches and earning the nickname “the death of goals,” but finished strongly to end the season with 18 strikes in 37 matches altogether. He’ll spearhead a 4-2-3-1 formation, which could feature ex-Viola winger Jakub Blaszczykowski as well. Overall, this is a young, fast, and technical side that will play typical German football: organized, compact, and a focus on quick transitions. Basically, the exact blueprint to beat Fiorentina these past five years.
Fiorentina
The tension mounts for Stefano Pioli and his charges as they wait for further reinforcements. Until and unless those reinforcements arrive, we don’t really have a whole lot to add here that yall don’t already know. The current questions are whether Nenad Tomović has pulled ahead of Bruno Gaspar at rightback; whether Jordan Veretout will crack the first XI again; and which of Rafik Zekhnini, Ianis Hagi, and Sebastian Cristoforo will start from the bench. Hardly scintillating stuff.
How to watch
TV: Not unless you’re in Italy.
Online: Viola Channel will, as usual, carry the stream.
Forza Viola!