Marcotti's Fiorentina lowdown

Rafael Benitez's men take on Fiorentina on Tuesday night - but what do you know about La Viola? We caught up with Il Corriere dello Sport columnist and The Times contributor Gabriele Marcotti to find out more...

To understand Fiorentina, their supporters and their relationship with the team you need look no further than the banner the club's Ultras displayed following the death of manager Claudio Cesare Prandelli's wife, Manuela, two years ago.
 
"The passing of time will blunt the pain, but know that when you need her close to you, you only need to raise your eyes towards the heaven. Her star will guide you forever and take us all far."
 
The term 'family club' has too often been overused, but as far as La Viola is concerned, it's spot on. Prandelli fought back tears as he thanked the Ultras and the rest of the Fiorentina support in one of the most emotional days the club has known.
 
The flip-side is that passions run very high and these can also be some of the most demanding fans in Serie A. Fiorentina lacks the financial might of the Milan clubs or Juventus, and Florence lacks the size and catchment area of a Naples or Rome, yet the expectation is that the Viola should compete on equal footing.
 
And that can be a problem, especially in seasons like this one, which saw the club lose their best midfielder, Brazilian stalwart Felipe Melo, without adequately replacing him, something which caused turmoil among the supporters.
 
Fiorentina goalkeeper Sebastian Frey is a colorful and competent goalkeeper, who plays with intensity and aggression. At one point, he seemed on the cusp of stardom, these days he's more than content with his role at Fiorentina. He's an excellent shot-stopper whose not afraid to come off his line.
 
The defence is anchored by Alessandro Gamberini. His name literally means 'little shrimp' in Italian, but he's quite the opposite: big, physical and surprisingly mobile for a man his size. He'll either be partnered by Per Kroldrup, the former Everton defender who had a nightmare at Goodison or, more likely, veteran Dario Dainelli who is solid but vulnerable to pace.
 
Lorenzo De Silvesteri joined from Lazio immediately before the close of the transfer market and he's definitely one to watch. 
 
The 21-year-old right-back is athletic, technically gifted and one of the more promising players in Serie A, although he's been slowed by injury over the past two seasons. At left-back it's a toss-up between the more disciplined Massimo Gobbi (a recycled midfielder) and the more adventurous Manuel Pasqual.
 
Riccardo Montolivo is the leader of the midfield. He's a tidy passer with a dangerous long-range shot who, at 24, is on the fringes of the Italy squad. He hasn't developed as quickly as some would have liked, but he has had to cope with the difficult job of carrying the the side through some very tricky times.
 
Alongside him will be either Marco Donadel, a steady if unspectacular holding midfielder, or Cristiano Zanetti, who arrived in the summer from Juventus.
 
The veteran Zanetti, a former Italian international, is skillful and a very reliable ball winner, but his career has been blighted by injury (the fact that he has started just over 200 league games in a 12-year top flight career tells its own story) and there are concerns that he has lost a yard.
 
Fiorentina's 4-2-3-1 is predicated upon wingers and their wide men are likely to be Marco Marchionni and Juan Vargas. Marchionni, 29, is a tricky dribbler who loves to take on opponents and delivers a decent cross, though it's the Peruvian, Vargas, who has made headlines recently.
 
He was a virtual unknown when he joined Catania three years ago but has since established himself as one of the best wide players in Serie A. He's especially dangerous when he cuts inside, looking to play the one-two.
 
Sitting just behind the centre-forward will be Adrian Mutu, formerly of Chelsea. Mutu is a very gifted player with a wicked shot and bags of creativity and invention. However, he's had a very difficult start to the season (not least because the Court of Arbitration for Sport has ordered him to pay some £15 million in compensation - money he doesn't have - for the drug test he failed while at Stamford Bridge). On his day, he's very hard to handle. The good news for Liverpool is that he really hasn't been on top of his game since last season. 
 
Fiorentina's leading scorer is Alberto Gilardino, but, of course, he's suspended after being rather harshly sent off in the first group game against Lyon. More good news for the Reds, as 'Gila' appeared to be in excellent form and, in fact, he's been scoring regularly since leaving AC Milan.
 
In his place will be 19-year-old 'wunderkind' Stevan Jovetic, who is definitely a player to watch. The Montenegrin striker has drawn the inevitable parallels to the legendary Dejan Savicevic and while those comparisions may be premature, he is a very unpredictable and inventive player with an uncanny tendency to find space.
 
Fiorentina were hoping to bring him along slowly but, in fact, he's forced his way into regular playing time and he's simply been too good to leave out.
 
Like most young players he can be inconsistent, but, make no mistake about it, he's capable of producing genuine magic.
 
All told, Fiorentina are a side with a clever manager and some outstanding individuals, but also some glaring weaknesses. The absence of a veteran goalscorer like Gilardino (Jovetic is talented, but is more of a deep-lying striker anyway) is a further body blow to their chances against Liverpool.
 
Don't read too much into the result at the weekend: a 1-0 win at Livorno, Fiorentina rested a number of players and were also somewhat lucky.
 
Things will be different on Tuesday night, but it's hard to see Liverpool not returning from Tuscany with at least a point, maybe more.

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