Vanoli: ‘Fiorentina take nothing for granted’ despite 3-0 advantage
Fiorentina have a 3-0 first leg lead in the Conference League play-off with Jagiellonia, but Paolo Vanoli warns ‘nothing is to be taken for granted, we saw the Champions League comebacks.’
It kicks off at the Stadio Artemio Franchi at 17.45 GMT (18.45 CET).
The Viola had been in a disastrous run of form, both in Europe and domestically, but really seem to have turned a corner lately.
Their 3-0 first leg result in Poland was part of a trend that has now seen them win three on the bounce in all competition, but that doesn’t mean qualification to the Round of 16 is guaranteed.
Vanoli warning for Fiorentina in Europe
“We saw the comebacks in the Champions League yesterday, so nothing is to be taken for granted,” Vanoli told Sky Sport Italia.
Atalanta managed to overturn a 2-0 first leg loss to Borussia Dortmund, while Juventus down to 10 men forced Galatasaray to extra time despite a 5-2 first leg deficit.
“We must go out there focused on winning the game, not conceding goals, but also trying not to use up too much energy, because we know the priority is Serie A,” added the Fiorentina coach.
What has changed in their recent transformation of results and performances?
“In recent matches, we have seen a big difference in the number of sprints of our defenders, I showed the players those statistics too. That means we were much more attentive in preventative marking to avoid those situations.
“If you look at our record against the smaller clubs, we dominated the matches, but conceded a lot of goals on the counter-attack. We have changed the spirit, we all defend together and attack together.
“It took a while to achieve that, it was a process, but we are getting there now. It was also a problem of shaking off this cursed and worrying thought, which is we’ll win the next one. It was tough to start a season with one objective and change it so radically, it required a shift in mentality.”
Dodo is suspended for the next Serie A match, so he starts today in a more advanced attacking role, allowing Jack Harrison to rest instead.
Albert Gudmundsson is on the bench after an ankle injury.