Vanoli: ‘Fiorentina have belief and will attack Crystal Palace’
Paolo Vanoli explains his extremely attacking Fiorentina line-up against Crystal Palace in the Conference League quarter-final. ‘Of course we believe, and we need players who can score goals.’
It kicks off at the Stadio Artemio Franchi at 20.00 UK time (21.00 CEST).
A minute’s silence will be held before kick-off and Fiorentina are wearing black armbands following the death of Alex Manninger, who was their goalkeeper in 2001-02.
“It’s a tragedy. I found out this afternoon. Alex was an exceptional lad, I was fortunate enough to play with him here in Florence, we are close to his family, it’s hard to find the words,” Vanoli told Sky Sport Italia.
Vanoli and Fiorentina face huge hurdle
The Viola are going to need something truly extraordinary to reach their fourth consecutive Conference League semi-final, because they were beaten 3-0 in the first leg at Selhurst Park.
“Of course we all believe, so do these fans, who showed once again despite a difficult season that they are behind us. It is a dream, so we must always believe. When it comes to an achievement like this, the players must give 110 per cent.
“We are up against a strong opponent, but have been getting some good results lately in Serie A. As I said in the first leg, what disappointed me was not having a full squad to choose from in this tie.”
Moise Kean is still out injured, with Marco Brescianini, Fabiano Parisi, Tariq Lamptey and Niccolò Fortini, while Dodo is suspended at right-back.
It is a very attack-minded formation, with four strikers used together, plus creative Nicolò Fagioli and Rolando Mandragora in midfield.
It’s not yet clear whether Marin Pongracic or Pietro Comuzzo will be the makeshift right-back.
“In order to achieve something remarkable, mentality and belief is the most important thing, as the players need to give their best performance of the season,” continued Vanoli.
“We know it’ll be tough, as Crystal Palace showed how they can punish the first mistake, but we’ve got to try something that would remain in the history of Fiorentina during a season that has been complicated from the start.”
The focus this season for Fiorentina was always on avoiding relegation from Serie A, and they have almost done that now after breaking eight points clear of the drop zone.
That was achieved with Monday evening’s 1-0 victory over Lazio, so some of the crippling pressure has been lifted.
“When I made the line-up, I realised if you have to recover this deficit, you need players who can score goals. Robin Gosens is another, as he is very dangerous on set plays and runs to the back post. Everything can become important tonight,” concluded the coach.
