The Goddess never stops: having overturned the first leg defeat at the end, she is the second finalist of the Italian Cup.
Al Gewiss Stadium a crazy, hard-fought, tight match between Fiorentina and Atalanta. A result perhaps wider than it should have been, with the Tuscans struck after just eight minutes and never really recovered, but capable more with heart than head of regaining the score in numerical inferiority. But at the same time a result fully legitimized by the Bergamo team, who created the most important opportunities of the match and proved, after the skid in Florence, to be a superior team in terms of quality and organisation.
It was hard to think about that Gasperini (in the stands due to disqualification) could make a mistake in the match plan again. And in fact it wasn’t like that. On the other hand, Atalanta, which has had its ups and downs in the league, has always responded in matches like this this year. Aware of the emergency in defense and of Fiorentina’s mechanisms, he arranges his men in a series of very rough man-on-man but always taking care to keep the defensive lines tight, relying on the direct solution on Scamacca and the transition skills of Ederson. Although the old Gasperinian trademark is sometimes seen again, that attack “fifth to fifth”the central axis is the point where the Goddess unhinges the lilies: the positional fluidity and continuous interchanges between Koopmeiners, Scamacca and De Ketelaere they make references to the Viola centre-backs, who are too little supported by a midfield in which the linchpin, Mandragora, mentally leaves the match almost immediately.
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Precisely Mandragora, as decisive in the first leg with that wonderful goal from 30 meters as it was disastrous in this return match. The mistake, very banal and at the same time unfortunate, with which he sends Koopmeiners to score the 1-0 breaks the balance of a match that Fiorentina had actually approached well sooner than expected. It seems that the heavens want to make him pay for the glories of fifteen days ago: in constant suffering in the middle (warned and already warned), when Fiorentina remains with ten men and places three behind the ladder among the central defenders to take the fixed reference on Scamacca . And the former West Ham player scores a wonderful acrobatic goal in front of him. Together with an unfortunate Milenkovic (annihilated for 52 minutes until his expulsion) perhaps a bit of a mirror, the image of a team that traveled beyond its possibilities for a certain period and now sees itself all coming back. But, to his credit, as long as Mandragora was on the pitch his team remained afloat, with extra time in their sights. Despite Milenkovic.
Scam. If, as it seems, they have finally found continuity, Italy has then found its center forward at the European Championship. And without room for discussion. Throughout the match, this boy conveyed a feeling of omnipotence, of the ability to hit, create, invent something at any moment, at the same time working well and in sync with his teammates. Forgive me for the comparison, but in total technical diversity the Roman striker is reminiscent of Ilicic: a supreme and erratic talent, as precious as it is difficult to put to good use. By now, dusting off delicate and snubbed jewels seems to be the inevitable destiny of Gasperini’s reign in Bergamo.
The famous three fronts. For Atalanta, semi-finalists in the Europa League and in full swing for the Champions League place, they continue with another important stage, reaching the final of the Italian Cup against Juventus. For Fiorentina, with a Serie A ranking with faint hopes, only the Conference one now remains. A very bitter defeat for the Viola, which means another missed goal in a season that oscillates dangerously between success and disaster. Once again, the very severe limitations of a group and also of a coach, an Italian, have emerged, who despite himself will have put that bloody counterattack for Lookman’s 3-1 in the record books one minute from time. It’s not a question of approach, tactics, concepts, it’s that his Fiorentina is a mechanism that is too flawed and at the same time too emotionally fragile. Lots of individual errors in a game that got out of hand right from the first minutes, in a team that likes each other too much and never helps each other enough. He pays for the technical deficiencies, he pays for the blunders, he pays for not having increased the score in the first leg when Atalanta was faltering. But perhaps he also pays for that atmosphere of the end of the reign, which unconsciously causes us to neglect details and small things: things that a team like this, in order to sit at certain tables, should never leave out.
2024-04-24 22:07:47
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