Primavera win third straight Coppa Italia

Shaking off a difficult season, the Fiorentina Primavera held off Lazio by a score of 2-1 to win their third straight Coppa Italia. Striker Samuele Spallutto struck twice in the first half to lead an impressive performance for the teens, leading the Viola to their second trophy of the Rocco Commisso era.

Despite sitting just one spot out of the relegation playoff places in 11th, Alberto Aquilani’s men thoroughly outplayed the Romans, creating a lot more chances. Spallutto opened the scoring with a close-range finish after Niccolò Pierozzi headed Andrea Milani’s lovely cross off the bar in just the 8th minute and completed his brace 25 minutes later with a fantastic diving header from Pierozzi’s teasing cross. While the Aquile pulled one back via a fantastic Marco Bertini free kick just before the hour mark, they always looked second best against a Fiorentina side that soaked up pressure and broke fantastically well; while a few later chances flattered Lazio, the good guys could’ve scored 4 or 5.

This hands the youngsters their unprecedented third straight Coppa Italia Primavera. Besides providing a beacon of positivity in an otherwise sad and dreary season and adding to the club’s impressive haul of trophies at youth level, the teenagers’ continued success augurs well for the future.

Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images

Guys like Pierozzi, Dimo Krastev, Mattia Fiorini, and Andrea Milani all look like outstanding prospects who could follow in the footsteps of recent Fiorentina academy graduates like Federico Chiesa, Niccolò Zaniolo, Gianluca Mancini, Federico Bernardeschi, who’ve all become excellent Serie A players in the past few years. With a senior side in flux, there should be opportunities for a lot of these youngsters to get a long look over these final 5 matches and this summer in Moena.

For now, though, it’s time to stop thinking about the future and focus on the present. We need to celebrate the achievements and effort of this group of players, who’ve shaken off a season of adverse results (to say nothing of living in quarantine for more than a year at a time of life when going out and meeting friends is so important) to bring home a trophy. Well done, boys. You deserve every minute of partying you get and then some.