Fiorentina release preseason friendly schedule (UPDATED)

It’s over. It’s finally over. 2022-2023 is completely wrapped up. That can only mean, of course, that it’s time to start thinking about 2023-2024. While that usually means a focus on the transfer market, there’s a lot more to preparing for another campaign. With new players arriving, old ones departing, and youngsters trying to make the step up, the preseason friendlies are one of the most interesting parts of the season. And now we’ve got a schedule for them.

Fiorentina has 6 scheduled so far, although management will probably add a few more against higher-profile opponents later in the summer. The opponents here range from storied calcio outfits fallen on hard times to lower-league opponents only the most die hard fans will know. Without further ado, here’s the schedule.

If the embedded tweet doesn’t show up, here’s the schedule:

• Saturday, 15 July 2023 at 6:00 PM GMT/2:00 PM EST: Fiorentina vs Fiorentina Primavera at the Viola Park
• Thursday, 20 July 2023 at 6:00 PM GMT/2:00 PM EST: Fiorentina vs Parma at the Viola Park
• Sunday, 23 July 2023 at 6:00 PM GMT/2:00 PM EST: Fiorentina vs Catanzaro at the Viola Park
• Wednesday, 26 July 2023 at 6:00 PM GMT/2:00 PM EST: Crvena zvezda vs Fiorentina at the Marakana in Belgrade, Serbia
• Tuesday, 1 August 2023 at 6:45 PM GMT/2:45 PM EST: Grosseto vs Fiorentina at the Stadio Carlo Zecchini in Grosseto
• Saturday, 5 August 2023 at 3:30 PM GMT/11:30 AM EST: Newcastle vs Fiorentina at Saint James Park in Newcastle
• Sunday, 6 August 2023 at 1:00 PM GMT/9:00 AM EST: Fiorentina vs Nice at Saint James Park in Newcastle
• Friday, 11 August 2023 at 6:00 PM GMT/2:00 PM EST: Fiorentina vs Sestri Levante at the Viola Park
• Saturday, 12 August 2023 at 6:00 PM GMT/2:00 PM EST: Fiorentina vs OFI

For the first time in recent memory, Fiorentina won’t be heading to Moena for training camp and will instead stay home. It’ll be the first glimpse of the legendary Viola Park for many fans and should help the Viola raise a bit of extra money by keeping everything in-house, although the players may miss the cool mountains of Alto Adige as they work under that hot Tuscan sun.

The players, of course, are the most interesting piece of the friendlies. We likely won’t see any real tactical wrinkles in these games—the highest-caliber opponent here is Parma in Serie B—so it’s all about watching the guys on the field. Without any summer tournaments, everyone should arrive at around the same time, so we’ll be able to get a decent sense of the first XI right away. That should help these guys build crucial on-pitch relationships and help avoid last year’s slow start.

More exciting, of course, are the youngsters coming through. Guys like Dimo Krastev, Lorenzo Lucchesi, Michael Kayode, Lorenzo Amatucci, Costantino Favasuli, Filippo Distefano, Ciro Capasso, and Fallou Sene could get a long look in preseason. While few if any of them will actually stick with the first team this year, they’ll be auditioning for loan moves and future roles.

More importantly, a few of them will wow us against lower-level opposition and make us fall in love forever (hi, Andy Bangu/Erick Ferigra/Josh Pérez/Gabriel Gori/Jan Mlakar/Simone Minelli), convinced that they’re the long-term solution to all of Fiorentina’s problems before they vanish to Serie C on loan.

And that’s exactly as it should be. Preseason is the time of wildly over-inflated expectations. Jonathan Ikoné will score a hat trick against a bunch of semi-pro guys from Serie D and we’ll celebrate his newfound clinical finishing, projecting him to become the best winger in Serie A. Or maybe it’ll be Josip Brekalo. Or Marco Benassi. Or any number of other dudes. Enjoy the moments, but don’t attach any meaning to them. Remember that it’s training for us as fans, too, and that we need to get ready for a long season of losing our minds. Can’t go too hard, too early.

UPDATE 10 July 2023 at 1:30 PM PST

Fiorentina have added a friendly against Serbian champions Crvena zvezda (aka Red Star) at the Marakana on 26 July. They’ll also play in the Sela Cup, a brand new preseason tournament hosted by Newcastle. They’ll take on the Magpies on Saturday 5 August and OGC Nice on Sunday 6 August, with Villarreal also in attendance.