It has been a while since Fiorentina troubled the scorers in Europe but there have been times when their famous purple shirts have shone brightly across the continent. It might only be the Conference League but, nonetheless, those of a Viola faith were understandably delighted when they sneaked qualification at the end of last season. It has brought back echoes of some glorious games when many a glass of Chianti was raised to toast Tuscany’s finest. Here are five of their more memorable victories down the decades.
Arsenal 0 Fiorentina 1 (Champions League, 27/10/1999)
Having seen off Widzew Lodz in the preliminaries the boys from the Stadio Artemio Franchi found themselves landed in a group with Barcelona, AIK Solna and the Gunners. The fifth group game – played at Wembley – was effectively a showdown for qualification to the last 16. Under wily old tactician Giovanni Trapattoni, the Serie A side soaked up the pressure before Gabriel Batistuta – who else? – popped up with a gem to decide the game. The move began with a typically rugged Aldo Firicano tackle which set up a rapier-like counter-attack and some neat interpassing to let Jorg Heinrich gallop at the home defence. He played the ball to the Argentinian forward on the right and he did not hesitate to work a yard of space before thumping the ball at an acute angle past David Seaman. Despite another famous win over Manchester United in the second group phase they were unable to build on it and narrowly missed out on a place in the quarter finals.
Liverpool 1 Fiorentina 2 (Champions League, 9/12/2009)
It may not have been the finest vintage of the Reds but victories at Anfield are always a little bit special. Cesare Prandelli was the architect of this triumph having already beaten the English side in Florence thanks to a Stevan Jovetic double. Yossi Benayoun had given Rafa Benitez’s already eliminated side the lead shortly before half-time but the visitors gained confidence as the match progressed. A little toe-poke from Alberto Gilardino helped to tee up Martin Jorgensen for an equaliser midway through the second half and the striker delivered the coup de grace late in the game. A Juan Vargas cross from the left was tapped home by Gila to ensure his team topped their group ahead of Lyon. It paved the way for a most controversial elimination by Bayern Munich in the last 16, a game which rankles in Florence to this day.
Rangers 0 Fiorentina 2 (Cup Winners’ Cup, 17/5/1961)
The legend of the Lions of Ibrox was born with this first-leg triumph which all but secured the club’s first and only major European trophy. Having seen off Lucerne and Dynamo Zagreb in previous rounds, the Viola travelled to Scotland knowing they would face a stern test – and a tough atmosphere – in Glasgow. Hungarian legend Nandor Hidegkuti was on the bench as they tried to silence a crowd of about 80,000 and ensure the return leg in Florence was a comfortable one. Inspired by Kurt Hamrin, the visitors took the lead through Luigi Milan with 12 minutes on the clock and a Rangers side including famous names like Jim Baxter, Eric Caldow and Bobby Shearer could not break them down. Milan delivered a second goal late in the game to make the match in Italy a formality. He scored again at the Stadio Comunale, as did Hamrin, with Alex Scott getting a consolation goal for the Scottish side to ensure it finished 4-1 on aggregate and Fiorentina lifted the silverware.
Fiorentina 1 Atletico Madrid 0 (UEFA Cup, 27/9/1989)
This game was played at the Renato Curi in Perugia as the Viola’s home ground was out of commission due to renovations ahead of Italia ’90. They could hardly have had a tougher opening two-legged tie in the competition than against the Spanish side captained by the magical Paulo Futre who was in the midst of his most productive season in front of goal for the club. The first leg was won by the Madrid side by a single goal which set up an epic return clash. Renato Buso nodded home a corner after 25 minutes but the two sides could not be separated and the game headed, almost inevitably, to penalties. Two misses – one of them by Futre – and a save by Marco Landucci sent Roberto Baggio to the spot to win the tie and he duly obliged with his usual composure. It was the start of a run which would take the team all the way to the final only to be denied by arch-enemies Juventus.
Roma 0 Fiorentina 3 (Europa League, 19/3/2015)
Having fought out a closely-contested draw in Florence, the Giallorossi were favourites to progress when the sides went head to head at the Stadio Olimpico just a week later. Instead, the home side were blown away by a blistering start which left even the visiting fans dumbstruck. An early penalty which was calmly converted by Gonzalo Rodriguez despite being forced to retake it set the tone. Marcos Alonso pounced on a blunder by Lukasz Skorupski to make it two and then Jose Maria Basanta bulleted home a header after a little more than 20 minutes had passed. Try as they might, Rudi Garcia’s men could not get back into the game while Vincenzo Montella’s side – inspired by Mo Salah – would make it all the way to the semi-finals before being convincingly outgunned by Sevilla.
