Chapter 53 Champions Cup
When was the last time Florence participated in the Champions League?
Even old fans are about to forget that since Florence's fans called "damn Cheligori" to death, Florence has been insulated from Europe. Not to mention the Champions League, even the UEFA Cup has not appeared in Fiorentina for a long time. That's the name.
Now, Florence has finally returned. After years of being convinced, Purple Lily has finally returned to the European arena.
The away game challenged the Shakhtar Donetsk. There are still three days before the game, and the fans can't sit still. It's hard to get a ticket away. For them, it's like a dream that the team can retake the European game, especially the Champions League, which symbolizes the world's top club events.
Especially the fans who experienced the lowest fan period in Florence, the current Champions League, if viewed at that time, is simply unimaginable.
But the truth is that Florence is really back.
Miner Donetsk, a giant team from Ukraine, feels somewhat strange to the fans of the mainstream leagues in Europe.
However, in Ukraine, and even in Eastern Europe, Shakhtar Donetsk is definitely a club of the king level. In the domestic league in Ukraine, Donetsk miners have long replaced the more familiar Kiev Dinamo and become the absolute hegemon of the league.
Donetsk is a famous coal city in Ukraine, and Donbas Stadium, the home of Shakhtar Donetsk, is the best stadium in Ukraine, costing 320 million euros to build. At a time when football is becoming more and more sluggish, it is unimaginable to spend such a large amount of money to build a football field.
The owner of the team is Akmetov, the richest man in Ukraine. His Donetsk Miners team has brought Ukrainian football to the world.
Akmetov is not only rich but also has the intention. Since taking over the miners in 1996, Akmetov has decided to build a world-class club.
Akhmetov is to Ukraine as Abramovich is to Russia. According to Forbes Fortune magazine in the United States, his personal wealth is as high as 2.3 billion US dollars. He is the richest man in Ukraine, and his power even touches Ukrainian politics. But he is not a football layman. Today's miners have already replaced the dominance of Dinamo Kiev in the Ukrainian league.
In 1996, after the murder of Brakin, the former chairman of the Donetsk Miners Club, Akmetov, who had served as an adviser to the former, took over the club.
Akhmetov left the most impressive impression on people was once that after the Miners lost at home, Akmetov was so angry that he kicked almost every main player's luxury car several times.
His passion for football is well known all over the country.
Digan is familiar with the Shakhtars, or because in his previous life, the team has gone abroad with several excellent Brazilian players, and their transfer value has broken records. The most famous William's transfer to Chelsea has even reached 14 million euros. Fernandinho's transfer to Manchester City has also 10 00 million euros.
It is the joining of these players that gives the Miners the strength to win in Europe. In addition to foreign aid, the local players trained by the Miners themselves are also quite good. In this Ukrainian national team, a total of six international players play for the Miners, second only to the nine in Dynamo Kiev.
Although many people regard the miners team as the role of accompanying the prince to study during the group draw, and perhaps their outcome will be the same, the strength of this team must not be underestimated.
Although some Fiorentina fans have scored three points in the first game of the group stage under the name of Fiorentina, Degan asked all players to pay attention to this opponent.
Degan's reason is very simple. Which team can enter the group stage of the Champions League?
Digan is the same as others. He doesn't think that Shakhtar Donetsk has the strength to reach the knockout stage and is a contender for the League Cup at best.
But who can guarantee that the Donezke miners will not become the spoilers of Florence's group? In case these miners make a revolution and make trouble in Florence, it will be a lot of fun.
Degan asked his teammates to be vigilant, and as the team's head coach, Prandelli would not ease any of his opponents. After the game with Atlanta, he began to collect all the information about the Donetsk Miners.
In fact, this work has begun since the group draw ceremony. This summer, while continuing to repair the lineup, Prandelli is also setting up his coaching team, which includes a role to collect information about opponents.
At present, among the three most threatening players in the Miners lineup, one of them is Croatia's left-back and international Srnar. This player gives people the feeling of Carlos when he was young. His assists are very sharp and his shoveling is extremely fierce. As a full-back, he actually scored seven goals last season. , which shocked European football a little.
Another is Fernandinho, the Brazilian core of their midfield. As a midfielder, Fernandinho not only contributes his own strength in defense, but also often gains in attack. In the Shar Donetsk, he plays a role, basically Pierre of AC Milan. Luo.
Since joining the Miners in 2005, he has played 34 games in his first season, including 23 league appearances and 3 goals in the league.
In the next two seasons, Fernandinho shined brilliantly, leading this emerging Ukrainian giant for two consecutive years to defeat Dynamo Kiev to win the championship.
Another player is Cristiano, an old acquaintance of Serie A. Lucarelly!
Although he spent most of his career in a small team, this strong center from Livorno is indeed a high-yielding striker. In 1997, he appeared for the first time in Serie A in a 4-2 home win over Bologna on behalf of Atlanta.
Since then, Lucarelli's career has had some twists and turns. Despite his strong scoring ability, he has never been favored by the giants. In 71 matches in the Italian Second Division, which he represented Perugia, Cosenza and Padova, Lucarelli scored a total of 29 goals.
In the 1998/1999 season, Lucarelli also had a brief experience of going abroad, but due to unsuitable soil, Lucarelli scored only 1 goal in 12 La Liga games he played on behalf of Valencia.
After returning to Italy, Lucarelli joined Lecce and quickly became popular in Serie A. Two seasons later, he moved to Turin. In the 2002/2003 season, he did not play well as a striker, scoring only 1 goal in 26 league games, so the team was eventually relegated.
After the team was relegated, he returned to his hometown Livorno to join the team in the summer of 2003. After a season of second-level league, Livorno rushed to Serie A and represented his hometown team in the first Serie A season. Lucarelli scored 24 goals, only after Degan who went crazy that season. Second place in the A striker list, Parma's favorite Gilardino and Montra, who saved the Roma team several times, were left behind by him.
The excellent performance made Lippi, the head coach of the national team at that time, begin to pay attention to the high-yielding striker.
At that time, Lucarelli became the player that everyone wanted, but his position was very firm and he would not take another wrong step. Even Spartak Moscow offered 3 million pounds to Livorno. In addition, the Russian Premier League team also offered Lucarelli a two-and-a-half-year contract with an annual salary of more than 1.7 million pounds, far exceeding his current salary level in Livorno, but Lucarelli refused.
For Lucarelli, perhaps staying in Livorno is the best choice, because there is no strong opponent and he competes for the main position. He doesn't have to be afraid to sit on the bench with a group of big stars.
It is difficult for a player over 30 to experience glory, especially now, in today's football world, whoever does not score goals will quickly disappear from people's eyes, especially for shooters.
The original story should be like this, but this summer, Lukareli suddenly decided to join the Ukrainian Donetsk miners. The Donetsk miners paid a transfer fee of 8 million euros to Livorno. 31-year-old Lukareli will get a three-year contract and a three-year general salary contract from Donetsk. For 4 million euros, this transfer contract totals 12 million euros is unimaginable for a 31-year-old player, and Lucarelli has also become the first Italian player to play in the Ukrainian league.
Last season, Prandelli's Fiorentina had a match with Livorno. At that time, although the team won, Lucarelli scored a goal in two games.
In this group stage of the Champions League, Fiorentina faced the Shakhtar Donetsk. Obviously, the most important task of the players is how to defend Lucarelli in the penalty area and not give him a chance to show him.
Some Prandelli had a headache. He thought he could meet the weakest opponent in the first round of the group stage, and Fiorentina could easily open the situation.
However, after watching several games of Shakhtar Donetsk last season, especially against Kiev Dinham, another giant team in the Ukrainian league, Prandelli found that the opponent was not weak at all.
If they lack European war experience, it is a place that can be used, but unfortunately, Florence and the other party are half-hearted in this regard.
"It's really the same as Rod said, there is really no weak team that can participate in the Champions League group stage! It seems that we are really going to have a twelve-point spirit!"
The European experience of the two teams, not to mention anyone, can be called a new face. The team's strength may be better, but the Donezke Miners has the advantage of home court, coupled with the consistent iron-blooded style of Eastern European football, this opponent can also be worthy of hard bones. Head.
"Cesare! The main players of the Miners are very young, maybe~~~~~~~" Antonelli swallowed back by himself. Speaking of youth, there are now several teams in Europe that can be compared with Florence. The title of the Young Guard is not in vain.
Prandelli stared at the TV screen and was thinking about his opponent's weaknesses. On the defensive line, the central defender was tall, and the assists of the two full-backs were sharp and fast. The midfielder was fierce in defense and his attack ability was not bad, especially on the two sidelines and the front line, which is still unknown. The Ukrainian League is still If it doesn't start, no one knows whether Lucarelli will explode.
Bug!?
Prandelli watched several games in a row. In the face of such a completely strange opponent, not being familiar with the tactical characteristics of the opponent is the most troublesome place. He can only understand the opponent through the video of the game.
Suddenly, Prandelli's eyes lit up!
On the TV screen, a dark-skinned Brazilian was taking the ball in the midfield, observed it, and then passed the ball to the opponent's penalty area. Center Bran hit the opponent's goal with a header.
Maybe you can do this!
Prandelli's eyebrows also relaxed, feeling that the smoke in the room was like Dior's perfume. The dark room also became bright, and even Antonelli and Dana, a member of the coaching staff, became cute.
The next day, the whole Fiorentina team flew to their next match venue, Donetsk, which is said to be the top stadium in Europe, to challenge their first group opponent, the Miners, to return to the Champions League.
The enthusiasm of Fiorentina fans is unimaginable. In this game, the Fiorentina fan organization gathered tens of thousands of fans away to cheer for their beloved purple lily.
At the airport practice meeting, Degan also made a victory declaration on behalf of the whole team: "We do not despise any opponent, nor will we be afraid of any opponent. Fiorentina has been away from the top European events for many years. Now it is time to tell our opponents that Florence is back. Purple Lily will bloom in the Champions League. Fiorentina will win this game!"
Degan's declaration of victory attracted a burst of cheer from fans. They all know that Degan never goes against his word. If he says he will win, the final winner of this game will definitely be Florence.
Hold high the flying purple military flag
In the court of challenge and courage
An eternal hope inspires us
Inspire eleven players and a heart
Oh, Florence!
You are the queen of the football world
Oh, Florence!
No matter where you are, you fight bravely
In the years of defeat and victory
History records all your legends
Florence's team song resounds through the sky!