Fiorentina

Fiorentina’s purple kit is among the most eye-catching in football. It’s simple, but unique. No other team in Europe’s major leagues wears the colour, which stands out as a beautiful rejection of the more traditional blacks, blues, reds and whites on show throughout Italy, England, Spain and Germany. Rather fittingly, the dark purple – which informs the club’s Viola nickname – was born amid majestic surroundings.

Fiorentina’s Purple Colour Scheme

According to folklore, Fiorentina became Viola by accident. Originally their shirts were a more conventional – and frankly less interesting – vertically split half-red, half-white. But, during a trip to the River Arno, which snakes underneath the Ponte Vecchio and through Florence, a fatal washing error saw the two colours combine to form a purple hue. The new look was welcomed, and has remained in place for almost 90 years since.

The kit fits in perfectly with the city itself. Florence is widely regarded as one of the most visually stunning cities

3rd July 2017. By Edward Stratmann.

Fiorentina's decision not to renew Paulo Sousa's contract was probably the right decision by the club. Over his two years in charge, the fiery and often difficult to handle Portuguese tactician's relationship never seemed smooth with the club's hierarchy, with regular reports suggesting Sousa was frustrated with their unwillingness to spend money on transfers and the way they sold players he intended on keeping.

Failing to qualify for Europe by finishing in eighth place in Serie A, which the club saw as a big disappointment, in combination with their inconsistency, his aforementioned troublesome nature and exit from this term's Europa League at the hands of Borussia Monchengladbach, saw the club ready to head in a different direction.

Sousa definitely deserves credit, however, for he got the team playing some of the most exciting and beautiful football in Europe, while still producing some promising results and handsomely improving many of the team's

6th March 2017. By Edward Stratmann.
After spending five and a half years with his beloved Empoli, that was sandwiched by a disappointing spell at AC Milan, Riccardo Saponara felt ready to make the step up in class again.

This time Paulo Sousa's exciting, technical, possession based Fiorentina outfit seems like a perfect fit for him. And, following his struggles in his first big move to Milan, he's desperate to make sure this time around he's a success.

When recalling his unfruitful stint in Milan, it's fascinating to hear how he still counts this tough time as a great learning experience, and one that's put him in good stead to deal with setbacks. "After the failure of my experience at Milan, I carry the tag that I am not suited to certain stages," he said to Gazetta.

"With the Rossoneri, I was not ready to deal with certain pressures. But with Fiorentina I will demonstrate that everything is different. This is the second big chance of my career. It is the decisive adventure of my career

23rd January 2017. By Edward Stratmann.
Having enjoyed a fantastic season with Fiorentina so far, Federico Bernardeschi crucially carried his fine form into La Viola's clash with fierce rivals Juventus.

For the man who's unquestionably one of the brightest talents in Italian and European football, this presented him with another opportunity to prove himself against one of the league's premiere teams, just as he'd done against Napoli before Christmas, where he bagged a brace and supplied a delightful assist.

Although he couldn't replicate the same output as he did against Maurizio Sarri's men, the 22-year-old still played beautifully and chimed in with an assist in the Lillies' 2-1 win over the Champions.

Operating as Paulo Sousa's 10 in his chosen 3-5-1-1 formation, just in behind forward Nikola Kalinic, the Italian took up purposeful positions throughout to help his team gain superiority.

For the most part, Bernardeschi chose to position himself in the right half space. Indeed, this spatial

By Edward Stratmann.

Just when Fiorentina's joyous creative midfielder, Matias Fernandez, was beginning to gain Paulo Sousa's trust and be granted some meaningful minutes, he unfortunately picked the wrong time to get himself sent off for the first time in his footballing career in Europe against Bologna on February 6.

For Fernandez, who's had to be content sitting on the bench and being very much a peripheral figure at La Viola this season, he must have felt like he'd undone so much of his good work.

While this was just the third sending off of the 29-year-old's much storied career, the other two coming for Chile and Colo Colo, considering this is now his 10th year in Europe, it's quite astonishing how long he went without receiving his marching orders.

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With Sousa opting to rest key players for the second leg of Fiorentina's Europa League Round of 32 clash with Tottenham, this meant Fernandez was handed a rare start against Atalanta last weekend. And he didn't

In the Spanish La Liga, five points currently separate the top four clubs on the standings table. In the English Premier League, the top-four spread is six points. In the German Bundesliga, it's 17 points. In the French Ligue 1, it's 24. Compare those figure to the Serie A, where just three points separate the top four soccer clubs on the league standings table, and it's clear to see that Italy's top-flight division is the fiercest competition in all of European football this season.

Indeed, fueled by the early season struggles of Juventus and the comeback of Inter Milan, the Italian Serie A has been an unpredictable battle this season. As of the matches played during the weekend of January 9^th, Napoli are leading the way in the league with a tally of 41 points. Juventus and Inter Milan are two points back, with Juve enjoying the advantage thanks to superior goal difference. Fiorentina round out the top four, with a point tally of 38.

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The Changing Landscape

By Matthew Amalfitano.

The transfer window is almost upon us and Italian clubs are already on hot pursuit of talented players to reinforce their respective squads for the second half of the season. After slow starts, Napoli and Juventus find themselves within the first four places. Leaders Inter and Fiorentina have perhaps been the most surprising of the top teams while Roma and Milan round out the top six.

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Here's an overview of what areas clubs should invest in during the January transfer window:

Inter

Roberto Mancini arrived in November of last year to replace Walter Mazzarri and quickly began to form the squad of his liking in the subsequent transfer window. Further additions were introduced this past summer and while the Nerazzurri currently top Serie A, introducing a couple fresh faces wouldn't be unexpected in order to continue their good form.

The club primarily need a midfielder with the ability to direct the team's attack from deep positions and lead them

For the first part of the 2015/16 Serie A season, it seemed as if Juventus' reign at the zenith of Italian soccer was about to come to an end. The Zebras entered the season as just about the surest bets in the world: not only were they carrying four consecutive Serie A titles (and going for a fifth), but they were also the reigning holders of the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italia, and were fresh off a runner-up finish in the UEFA Champions League.

And yet, when Juventus kicked off their 2015/16 campaign, they didn't look like the decorated football club they are. Week one brought a 0-1 loss against Udinese-and at home, no less. Week two and week three were hardly better, bringing a loss against Roma and a draw with Chievo, respectively. The Zebras finally won a game roughly a month into the season, winning 2-0 at Genoa. But subsequent losses to Napoli and Sassuolo continued to expose Juve's flaws and left the soccer club languishing in 12^th place after ten weeks of competition.

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With the group stages concluded for both the 2015/16 Europa League and Champions League tournaments, UEFA announced the round of 32 draw for the UEL on Monday, December 14^th. In addition to top group stage contenders from earlier in the Europa League (like Napoli, Rapid Wien, and Tottenham Hotspur), the round of 32 will also include the third-placers from the Champions League (including football clubs like Manchester United, Olympiacos, and Bayer Leverkusen).

The combinatory nature of the Europa League knockout stage always serves to inject some extra excitement into the proceedings. However, it also serves to make the round of 32 especially harder to predict. With that in mind, we are taking a look at the draw for the round of 32 and trying to decipher which teams will progress and which teams won't.

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The Champions League Teams

Eight of the 32 teams drawn into the next round of the Europa League come from the Champions League. These teams are the wildcard draws.

By Matthew Amalfitano.

The big theme over the past few years in the peninsula has been the desire for Italy to regain their fourth Champions League spot back, having lost it after the 2011/2012 season.

A substantial reason in how Germany overtook Italy in UEFA's coefficient ranking system stem from a large lack of concern towards Europe's second premiere club competition, the Europa League. Italian clubs saw the competition simply as a waste of resources given the previous winners of the competition did not receive a direct place in the Champions League group stage. Thus, coaches often fielded weaker sides to keep their squad fresh and avoid injury.

This factor coupled with generally mediocre Champions League performances over the past five seasons that have seen just two quarterfinal and one finalist appearance, has aided in the deterioration of the country's ranking, even coming close to being overtaken by France and or Portugal.

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However, if last season's