Fiorentina vs Juventus: Preview
· Yahoo Sports
Fiorentina’s win at Sassuolo last week capped off a string of steadily-improving performances. That’s the sort of momentum this club desperately needs, so of course the next match is the season’s most emotionally-fraught fixture. That’s right, folks. It’s time to welcome Juventus to Florence. It’s been a wildly uneven campaign for the Bianconeri, who sit 7th with 17 points. Losses to Sassuolo and Genoa indicate a vulnerability to bottom-half sides and il mago di Certaldo’s seat is warmer than he expected.`Before anyone gets too excited, though, let’s remember that the Viola are truly ass. In short, it’s a fascinating matchup.
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The match will be played on Sunday, 8 November 2o26, at 19:45 GMT/11:45 AM EST, at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in beautiful Firenze. The forecast calls for a gloriously sunny day, warm for early winter, and perfect for this sort of game. Expect a warm atmosphere from the home fans: the Curva has announced that there will be some major choreography, so perhaps Joseph Commisso should start reaching for his checkbook now.
Three things to watch for
1. Changes to the XINicolò Fagioli’s form has plummeted of late, possibly due to an ongoing legal dispute with an EDM DJ named Ludwig. It sounds like Beans is the victim here and hopefully the authorities figure this out pretty quickly but Paolo Vanoli’s likely worried about his regista’s real-world problems impacting his on-pitch performances, especially as he returns to the club at which he spent a decade. That means Chris Inao Oulaï, superb against Sassuolo, will start. If he can keep his temper and stick to the plan, he could pose Juve a very different question in the middle.
Conversely, Pote will probably start from the bench again. If Vanoli’s not certain about his fitness, it makes sense to bring him on with 30 minutes left; we all saw how he changed that game. Breaching Sassuolo’s defense isn’t the same as breaching Juve’s but the Portuguese attacker is class. My guess is that Vanoli will prioritize solidity in the middle to start with and then try to grab a winner late on. It’s rare that a club Fiorentina’s size gets the luxury of such talent as a substitute. With another good showing, though, Gonçalves may force his coach’s hand.
2. The dumbest war of attritionFiorentina’s defense is populated with bozos. I like some of them but will happily acknowledge that every single player Vanoli could put in the backline has a 50% chance of making an error so unspeakably stupid that it would explode a U12s coach. That’s been baked into the equation since Raffaele Palladino left town and there’s nothing any coach can do to change it other than applying holy water with a fire hose, or maybe holy fire with a water hose.
It’s hard to win games when your defense makes a lot of mistakes. It’s even harder when your entire game plan is to sit deep and absorb pressure. The opposing forwards circle like vultures, confident that eventually their prey will give up the ghost. And like a vulture, those forwards don’t even need to do anything but hang around until the opportune moment, which has arrived at least once per match. It’s why Fiorentina is one of two Serie A teams (alongside Sassuolo) that’s yet to keep a clean sheet.
Juve, however, has scored fewer goals than the Viola this year. Spalletone’s yet to get everyone on the same page even though there’s obviously plenty of talent up front. Against Fiorentina, that means we’re getting the ultimate teaser for Serie A: an eminently moveable object against a quite resistible force. Hoping this back line can keep it tight for 90 minutes is way too much but minimizing the bozo moments will go a long way towards keeping the Juvenuts off the scoresheet.
3. IntensityAfter a listless first half against Sassuolo, Fiorentina came out after the break and played with superb intensity. Everyone worked hard together and pressed as a unit. They’ve normally moved the ball as quickly as a dugong swimming through a hearty oatmeal but found some urgency and shifted it around pretty quickly at times, leaving the Neroverdi discombobulated and always chasing. It worked and it was great.
If Vanoli can get these guys playing like that every week, Fiorentina could end up pushing for Europe. We’ve seen better effort over the past fortnight, enough that I think the mister’s getting through. He’s got an advantage here because even with limited capacity, the Franchi is going to provide the Viola with a little extra oomph. If the hosts can harness that, they’ve got a great chance of lengthening their streak of four straight games unbeaten against Juve.
Possible lineups
Ted’s Memorial Blind Guess Department
The bookies lean heavily towards the visitors because there’s a big difference between 17 points and 8 points. I get it. I’ve watched every minute of Fiorentina this year and have reached the inescapable conclusion that the team is cheeks. That said, the Viola haven’t lost to the Bianconeri at the Franchi since 2023 and have a rest advantage. Couple that with the injuries on both sides and the sheer madness of a genuinely heated rivalry and logic goes out the door.
That’s why I’ll take Fiorentina to spring a 2-1 ambush. An opener from Mateo Pellegrino (scoring with his navel) gets canceled out by a Federico Gatti header off a corner, setting the stage for a late Pote wondergoal to win it. In between all that, I’m expecting a cagey match with desperately little quality between two teams that are more interested in avoiding mistakes than seizing the initiative.
Forza Viola!