Fiorentina-Milan recap and a light retrospective analysis of our campaign

By: Dumitru | June 1st, 2009

So, on Sunday, we lost 2-0 to Milan, at home, the last of the countless losses we suffered at their hands, courtesy to goals scored by the speedy brazilian duo of Pato and Kaka, and the little duck is developing a worrying habit of scoring goals against us, being guilty of getting on the scoresheet in each of the last three encounters. I remember like yesterday, how last year he daggered our purple hearts, by scoring a late and the only goal, in a match we clearly dominated, just after substituting a very angry Seedorf, as Milan overtook us in the table and my inner voice was telling me we won’t be able to reclaim the 4th spot. Fortunately, i was wrong, as, with the help of Napoli(Napoli-Milan 3-1), the Universe and a late goal, away, against Torino, by Batiposer(for wich i absolve him of all his later sins), Fiorentina managed to fight back and qualify for CL.

The game had a lot at stake, as, had we won by a two goal margin, we would have achieved direct qualification to the group stage of CL. It was supposed to be Gila’s revenge against his former club, but, it wasn’t meant to be, and, although we lost, we had the honor to play the last game of Ancelotti’s Milan, the team that dominated European football for the last decade. As of next season, Paolo Maldini, the impecable milanese capitano, will retire, while Ancelotti will depart to Chelsea, where he will take over a team badly wanting to prove ManU that they are not done yet. Also, it’s very likely that Kaka will leave the calcio world for Real Madrid, as Florentino Perez is planning a new Galactico era.

Before the begining of the season, i thought we will finish 5th, as it seemed to me that playing both in Serie A and CL was too much for our young and inexperienced team to reallistically compete with Inter, Milan, Juve and Roma, so finishing 4th should be considered a success, but i dare to say we could have finished second, have we improved our record against bigger teams(Inter, Juve, Milan). It seems like we have an inferiority complex against established teams, and that has to change if we are to challenge for scudetto one day. I know that losing is part of the game, but 12 defeats in one season is a bit too much.

Our season was a eventful one, with lowlights(Lazio-Fiorentina 3-0; Fiorentina-Lecce 1-2) and highlights(Genoa-Fiorentina 3-3; Fiorentina-Roma 4-1), and San Cesare proved, once again, that he knows how to righten the ship in crisis situations. The most important thing is that we are establishing ourselves as a top 4 team, that plays regularly in CL, and that will attract players of higher calibre to Franchi, and i’m sure our transfer mastermind, Pantaleo Corvino, is working on that as we speak. It will be a long, rumour filled summer without calcio.

That said, Forza Viola and happy summer, everyone!