Federico Bernardeschi has what it takes to play for Barcelona, according to his Fiorentina teammate Davide Astori, who hopes he will stay in Florence for many years to come.
It was reported by Mundo Deportivo earlier in the week that Barca have already cast a glance at Bernardeschi, who has impressed in the Viola attack this season as a regular starter under Paulo Sousa.
His three goals in four Europa League appearances have helped further the Italian club's progress in that competition, and Astori believes Barca have spotted a player who would fit into their squad well.
However, Astori wants Bernardeschi to remain at Fiorentina and help them be successful over the coming years.
"He's going to be [good enough for Barcelona]," Astori told Gazzetta dello Sport. "We were joking with him about it yesterday, asking him to say 'hi' to [Lionel] Messi from us. He's got talent and the right head on his shoulders, and he's improving gradually. He could make history with Fiorentina, though, and I hope he sticks with us for a while."
One of the stars in Italy's under-21 side, Bernardeschi may also become a candidate for a place in the senior squad for the European Championship next summer.
"Why not?" Astori said. "That would be great, and there are five or six places still up for grabs. I hope to get one of them also."
Bernardeschi and Astori are doing their chances no harm this season, with Fiorentina currently just two points behind Serie A leaders Napoli.
"We can talk about the Scudetto -- it's not a taboo word," Astori said. "Saying it does not do you any bad. It's easy to say, even if the significance of it can be crushing, but we must not have any fear.
"The coach is giving us a philosophy and it is not only the quality of the players which is leading us to victories, but also this mentality. Whoever plays at Fiorentina has got to fight to make the breakthrough. It's got to be like this. We need a leader who can manage us and [Sousa] does that, without getting carried away.
Napoli's 18-game unbeaten streak in all competitions came to an end after losing 3-2 at Bologna in a nail-biting contest at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara.
Mattia Destro's brace either side of Luca Rossettini's first-half goal looked to have put the game to bed but Gonzalo Higuain scored two goals in the final three minutes of normal time to set up a tense finish.
However, the hosts held on to move up to 15th while Napoli missed the opportunity to leapfrog Inter Milan at the top of the Serie A table.
That result also allowed Fiorentina to climb above Napoli and take second place in the table with a 3-0 win at home to Udinese, thanks to goals from Milan Badelj, Josip Ilicic and Gonzalo Rodriguez.
Paulo Sousa's men are now one point behind Inter. Their next league engagement sees them visit bitter rivals Juventus and victory there, coupled with a poor result for Inter at Udinese, would take the Tuscans top.
Badelj's opener arrived in the 26th minute, the Croatian midfielder blasting Edenilson's poor clearance against the legs of team-mate Nikola Kalinic to wrong-foot Udinese goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis.
The second came when Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu brought Kalinic down in the box and Ilicic gladly obliged from the penalty spot. Fiorentina then piled bodies forward at an 86th-minute corner and it was Argentinian defender Rodriguez who rose highest to nod the ball beyond Karnezis.
AC Milan's bid to muscle into the title race hit a snag as they were held to agoalless draw at Carpi.
The Rossoneri had won four of their last six matches to climb back into contention for European football but Sunday night's stalemate at the Stadio Alberto Braglia proves they have a long way to go before restoring former glories.
Indeed promoted Carpi -- now in double figures for the season -- enjoyed the better chances of a balanced encounter, with former Milan striker Marco Borriello going closest to beating Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Ten-man Atalanta reached sixth place following a 3-0 home humbling ofPalermo.
In-form striker German Denis grabbed the opener in the 18th minute when smashing home Marten de Roon's rebound.
The second goal came from Nicolo Cherubin, the defender heading the ball beyond Stefano Sorrentino from a corner in the 25th minute.
Atalanta did lose Guido Migliaccio to a red card midway through the second half but quickly made amends as De Roon found Sorrentino's bottom corner with a left-footed screamer.
Frosinone wasted an opportunity to climb out of the relegation zone when going down 2-0 to Chievo.
Palermo's thrashing at Atalanta meant promoted Frosinone would have left the bottom three with victory at the Stadio Matusa, but they failed to make their dominance in the final third count.
Chievo waited until their hosts were tired from peppering their goal to strike twice at the end, Alberto Paloschi converting a penalty in the 89th minute and Riccardo Meggiorini converting his teammate's pass four minutes later.
The Flying Donkeys did lose Simone Pepe to a red card on the stroke of full-time, but fatigued Frosinone could not exploit their one-man advantage.
Sassuolo stunned Sampdoria 3-1 at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris to move back into the race for a Europa League place.
The Neroverde dominated throughout and Francesco Acerbi opened the scoring with a deflected goal inside eight minutes.
Sergio Floccari soon tucked away Sime Vrsaljko's cross while goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano was on the ground.
Teenager Lorenzo Pellegrini, 19, made it 3-0 with his first Serie A goal six minutes before half-time, the young Sassuolo midfielder beating Viviano by converting his own blocked shot.
Samp scored a consolation through Ervin Zukanovic on the stroke of full-time.
Luigi Delneri's reign as Hellas Verona boss began as his predecessor Andrea Mandorlini's ended -- with a defeat.
Andrea Costa's 61st-minute strike proved enough to earn Empoli a 1-0 victoryat the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi, condemning basement boys Hellas to their ninth loss of the season.
The former Parma defender was quick to react when Verona goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini pushed his first headed attempt back into play.
The paucity of Chelsea's striking options was once again laid bare on Wednesday as they finished their pre-season preparations with a lacklustre 1-0 loss at home to Fiorentina.
Visiting captain Gonzalo Rodriguez bundled in the only goal in the 34th minute at Stamford Bridge and with Diego Costa once again absent due to hamstring trouble, Jose Mourinho's side toiled in attack as they went a fifth consecutive game without victory.
Radamel Falcao and Loic Remy squandered another chance to prove themselves as understudies for the absent Costa, leaving Mourinho with food for thought ahead of the start of his side's Premier League title defence at home to Swansea City on Saturday.
"We have the real football on Saturday and today we couldn't face this game in another way," said Mourinho.
"Competitive minutes against a good team, who played for a result and gave us a very good training session."
Asked if Costa would be fit to face Swansea, Mourinho replied: "I don't know. I don't risk to say yes, but I also don't risk to say no."
It was a second consecutive prestige friendly win for Fiorentina, fourth in Serie A last season and semi-finalists in both the Coppa Italia and Europa League, following their 2-1 victory over European champions Barcelona on Sunday.
"It was a good victory, a victory for the whole squad," said coach Paulo Sousa. "I am happy for all the players."
Chelsea made 10 changes to the team beaten 1-0 by Arsenal in the Community Shield at the weekend, with skipper John Terry the only player to keep his place, while Falcao, Asmir Begovic, Bertrand Traore and Ola Aina made their home debuts.
Sousa also rang the changes, making seven in total. The visitors threatened first, Matias Fernandez testing Begovic low to his right.
Chelsea began to take control, Ruben Loftus-Cheek heading over and seeing a shot blocked and Aina having an effort deflected over, but after Matias Vecino had thundered a shot against the bar for the visitors and Begovic had parried a curling attempt by Khouma Babacar, Fiorentina struck.
A cross from the right was chested down by Marcos Alonso and although his left-foot effort was blocked at the near post by former Stoke City goalkeeper Begovic, the ball squirted out to Gonzalo, who bundled home.
Beginning at half-time, Chelsea made nine changes in the second half, with Eden Hazard, Cesc Fabregas, Gary Cahill and Nemanja Matic among the first-team stalwarts to enter the fray.
Fiorentina also sent on nine substitutes, including Italy striker Giuseppe Rossi, who missed the entirety of the 2014-15 season following the third serious knee injury of his career.
Substitute Josip Ilicic and Ante Rebic threatened for Fiorentina and although Chelsea finished the game in the ascendancy, they could not find an equaliser.
Cahill saw a pair of headers saved by Luigi Sepe and Remy, who replaced Falcao on the hour, shot wastefully wide after cutting inside Alonso.
Having also lost to New York Red Bulls and drawn with Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona -- both of whom they beat on penalties -- it completed an underwhelming pre-season for Chelsea, who have only two days to find a higher gear.
ACF Fiorentina secured a draw at FC Dynamo Kyiv last time out, but their shaky home form means there is plenty of life left in this UEFA Europa League quarter-final tie.
Previous meetings• Having equalised late in the first leg, the Italian outfit have not lost in five meetings with Dynamo (W2 D3).
• Strikes from Luciano Chiarugi and Mario Maraschi earned Fiorentina a 2-1 victory in Kyiv in the first leg of the teams' 1969/70 European Champion Clubs' Cup second-round tie. The Florence return finished goalless.
• The teams met again in the 1989/90 UEFA Cup third round, Roberto Baggio scoring the only goal of the tie from the penalty spot in Perugia against Valeriy Lobanovskiy's Dynamo, who played over half that first leg with ten men. The Viola went all the way to the final before losing to Juventus. Form guide• Fiorentina have won only one of their last four European home games (W1 D2 L1); Dynamo have lost three of their last four European away fixtures.
• Fiorentina are yet to lose in nine games against Ukrainian sides: W5 D4.
• Dynamo have won just twice in 19 encounters with Italian clubs, with both of those wins coming against AS Roma in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League. The game in Rome was a 3-0 forfeit success as the match was abandoned after referee Anders Frisk was hit by an object thrown from the crowd. They have thus yet to win a game in Italy over 90 minutes.
• Dynamo won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1974/75 and 1985/86, and last reached the quarter-finals of this competition in 2010/11.
• Winners of the inaugural European Cup Winners' Cup in 1961, Fiorentina were losers in the 1956/57 European Cup and 1989/90 UEFA Cup finals.
• Fiorentina have never lost a quarter-final in this competition. A pair of 1-0 wins gave Bruno Giorgi's side victory against AJ Auxerre in 1990. There were also two goals in it in 2008 as, after a 1-1 first-leg draw at home, Adrian Mutu's double earned a 2-0 success at PSV Eindhoven.They were beaten by Rangers FC on penalties in the semi-finals.
• This season's UEFA Europa League records: Fiorentina – W6 D4 L1 F19 A7 Dynamo – W7 D1 L3 F23 A12
Trivia and links • Dynamo and Napoli are the top-scoring sides left in the competition, having scored 23 goals in their 11 games: an average of 2.09 per match.
• Dynamo's Miguel Veloso played in Italy with Genoa CFC from 2010–12, where his team-mates included Fiorentina's Nenad Tomović. Miguel Veloso and Fiorentina's Matías Fernández had previously played together with Sporting Clube de Portugal (2009–10).
• Dynamo's Jeremain Lens and Fiorentina's Mounir El Hamdaoui – who is not registered to play in the UEFA Europa League – won the 2008/09 Dutch title together during their time at AZ Alkmaar.
• Fiorentina's only Ukrainian player, Olexandr Yakovenko, is out on loan at ADO Den Haag. The winger previously played alongside Dynamo's Dieumerci Mbokani at RSC Anderlecht from 2011–13.
• With 39 strikes to date, Fiorentina's Mario Gomez needs one more goal to move above Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, and become the fourth higest-scoring German player in UEFA club competition. Gerd Müller (62), Jupp Heynckes (45) and Ulf Kirsten (43) occupy the top slots.
• Dynamo's Andriy Yarmolenko has laid on six goals in this season's UEFA Europa League – more than any other player in the quarter-finals. He has also scored four. Wolfsburg's Kevin De Bruyne (five goals, five assists) and Club Brugge's Lior Refaelov (six goals, four assists) have also had a hand in ten goals.
• Dynamo defender Betão could make his 50th UEFA club competition appearance in the Fiorentina game.
• Dynamo goalkeeper Olexandr Shovkovskiy has made the most UEFA club competition appearances of any of the players left in this season's UEFA Europa League: 134. Only 17 players have played more European games.
• Dynamo's Łukasz Teodorczyk is one of three Polish players who still have a chance of playing in this year's UEFA Europa League final in Warsaw, along with Grzegorz Krychowiak (Sevilla FC) and Oskar Zawada (VfL Wolfsburg). The coaches• Fiorentina boss since June 2012, Vincenzo Montella was known as 'L'Aeroplanino' (the Little Aeroplane) because of his modest stature and trademark goal celebrations during his time as a striker. An Italian international, he won the 2000/01 Serie A title with Roma, and has coached Roma and Calcio Catania since hanging up his boots.
• Dynamo boss Serhiy Rebrov formed a deadly attacking partnership with Andriy Shevchenko for the Bilo-Syni, though his goals dried up somewhat after moving abroad. Having retired in 2009, Rebrov took a job with Dynamo's youth team, but became head coach in May 2014 after a successful caretaker spell.
Penalty shoot-outs • Fiorentina's record in five UEFA competition penalty shoot-outs is W3 L2 (W2 L1 at home): 1-3 v Boavista FC (A), 1986/87 UEFA Cup first round 3-1 v Club Atlético de Madrid (H), 1989/90 UEFA Cup first round 4-3 v FC Groningen (H), 2007/08 UEFA Cup first round 4-2 v Everton FC (A), 2007/08 UEFA Cup round of 16 2-4 v Rangers FC (H), 2007/08 UEFA Cup semi-finals
• Dynamo's record in one UEFA competition penalty shoot-out is W1 L0 (W1 L0 away): 3-1 v AC Sparta Praha (A), 1998/99 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round
Vincenzo Montella has admitted he is "worried" about Fiorentina 's form after an "ugly" defeat to Napoli on Sunday.
Rafael Benitez's men ran out 3-0 winners thanks to goals from Dries Mertens, Marek Hamsik and Jose Callejon, adding further misery to the Viola's week after they were eliminated from the Coppa Italia at the hands of Juventus on Tuesday.
Montella's men have won only three of their last eight in all competitions and the coach has has some concerns over the state of his team's mental strength.
"It was ugly. We had no character, no heart - that is worrying," he told reporters.
"We didn't have any incisiveness or pace to us and we could have conceded more. We had no security in defence and no conviction.
“We wanted to control the game early on, but we didn’t have the right approach. I have not seen a team as superior as Napoli were.
"For the first time I must say that I expected much more from my team. I could not recognise them out there.
“Physically, we are fine, so maybe it is psychological, because the defeat to Juventus has affected us badly."
Gonzalo Higuain looked to have given Napoli a fourth goal as a shot struck the bar and bounced over the line, but the goal was not given and Montella downplayed the incident.
"Nobody saw it clearly because the shot was so fast," he said.
"These things happen and fortunately it didn't decide the result."
Aurelio De Laurentiis and Napoli continued their media blackout despite their victory, with all players and Rafael Benitez refusing to speak to reporters.
Vincenzo Montella must re-energise his faltering Fiorentina side as they continue their last bid for silverware in Thursday's Europa League quarter-final first-leg tie at Dynamo Kiev.
A run of just one defeat in 19 matches across all competitions left Fiorentina hopeful of a top-three finish in Serie A and subsequent Champions League football, as well as Coppa Italia glory.
However, Fiorentina's season unravelled in the space of five days. First, a 3-0 defeat at home to Juventus last Tuesday saw them squander a 2-1 first-leg advantage to exit the Coppa.
It was the same scoreline in Sunday's league outing at Napoli, a loss that struck a blow to their Champions League ambitions and they now trail third-placed Roma by eight points with just eight matches remaining.
It remains to be seen if there will be any lasting psychological damage from those defeats, but Fiorentina must regroup quickly ahead of Thursday's encounter at the Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex - which is subject to a partial stadium ban for the fixture due to racist behaviour of supporters in their last-16 home tie against Everton.
"We came from a 3-0 defeat at home against Juventus and now a 3-0 defeat against Napoli," Fiorentina captain Manuel Pasqual told reporters after the Napoli defeat.
"We want to react. We are an important team and we want to prove it to everyone."
With the promise of Champions League football on offer for the victors of Europe's secondary competition, Fiorentina will be desperate to return to form.
But they face a Dynamo side who are flying and remain top of the Ukrainian Premier League – unbeaten.
They head into the match on the back of a 2-2 draw against Zorya, though, and Rebrov is expecting a difficult encounter.
"We must concentrate on Fiorentina," he said. It will be a completely different game from the one played in the league [against Zorya].
"Fiorentina is a team that plays well in defence and on the counter-attack."
Dynamo are without the injured Yevhen Makarenko and Miguel Veloso, while Jose Maria Basanta is suspended for Fiorentina.
Vincenzo Montella says that a collective mental fragility is to blame for Fiorentina's sudden dip in form - not star striker Mario Gomez.
Gomez has been heavily criticised for his poor goal return in recent weeks, with the Germany international having failed to net in his last three games in all competitions.
However, Montella believes that Fiorentina have been shown to be mentally weak after losing 3-0 at home to Juventus in the second leg of their Copa Italia semi-final before being beaten by the same scoreline in a crunch Serie A clash with Napoli at the San Paolo on Sunday.
The Viola coach is now desperately hoping that the Tuscan outfit can get the psychological boost they need when they travel to Ukraine to face Dynamo Kiev in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday.
"It is wrong to focus on a single player [Gomez]," Montella told reporters on Wednesday. "I expect more from everyone, especially from the more senior players.
"The causes are there, we have identified them and we have worked to solve our problems.
"For days in Florence we have talked about nothing else, we will continue to work on these problems.
"Our problems are not physical, something has happened in all of our heads. We understand where we went wrong and the game with Dynamo Kiev comes at the right time.
"We need to show maximum concentration to overcome adversity."
Fiorentina's loss at Napoli has left them eight points adrift of Roma in the third and final Champions League qualification place on offer in Serie A.
As a result, Montella freely admits that the Europa League has now taken on added significance, given the winners will earn a place in next season's Champions League.
"At this point, the Europa League is important to us, and we will play to the end," he added. "But the league is still open in my opinion. Anything could happen."
Both Dynamo Kiev and Fiorentina progressed through to this stage of the competition in style, with the Ukrainian side coming back from a first leg deficit to comprehensively beat Everton 5-2 at home, which gave them a 6-4 win on aggregate.
Vincenzo Montella’s men recorded a superb 3-0 away victory to defeat fellow Serie A side Roma 4-1 on aggregate, which sets up a first ever meeting between these two teams. Fiorentina come into this game off the back of two poor matches, losing 3-0 to both Juventus and Napoli. Montella’s side have had a successful season though, and with the Italians losing just once in this season’s competition, they will fancy their chance of reaching the semi-finals. Paddy Power price them at to win tonight but to qualify overall.
It’s no surprise to see Dynamo Kiev as favourites for the match outright tonight, with Serhiy Rebrov’s men having such a strong record at home this season in the competition.
Kiev have won all five matches and scored 15 goals in those games. It’s not just Europe where they have made the most of home advantage, with Rebrov’s men unbeaten in the Ukrainian Premier this season in front of their own fans. Paddy Power price them at to win tonight, and for the match to end in a draw.
With Kiev losing three of their five Europa League away matches this season, expect them to attack Fiorentina and try and win the tie in the first leg by gaining a significant advantage before the return fixture. With their home record outstanding, they will have the confidence of taking a lead to Italy. Instead of backing the hosts on the outright market, taking into fact Montella’s side are yet to lose away in Europe, it’s worth looking at the total goals market.
The price that the home side score two or more goals appeals with Paddy Power, with this bet landing in each of their home Europa League games this season.
With Fiorentina struggling defensively of late, conceding six goals in their last two matches, expect the Ukrainians to make a mark on the scoresheet. nguon: goal
Fiorentina boss Vincenzo Montella spoke to the press ahead of the visit of Hellas Verona tomorrow night. How would you describe Hellas Verona? "They’re a very compact side that defend deep and are very strong on the counter. We’ll need to be alert to that. They are also very strong in the air, with Luca Toni and other players."
How do you need to play to get the win? "I expect us to grasp the importance of the match and perform accordingly. We need to have good balance tomorrow and show hunger, because without that you don’t win matches in Serie A. We need to not rush things and ensure our quality comes through. There have been lots of goals in the fixture over recent years but I wouldn’t mind a 1-0 win!"
How important is it to have three matches at home in a row at this point of the season? "It’s a small advantage but we’ve shown we can perform both home and away." Can you give us an update on Bernardsechi? "He’s doing well and we decided it was good for him to play with the Primavera and national side. He needs playing time. I’m not sure if he’ll be included with the first team because the matches are critical and I’ve got lots of options to choose from."
Will you rotate the side? "I don’t know. When you play every three days, you have to mix things up."
How is Tatarusanu? "He’s in the squad but he’s not at 100% yet. He made a big sacrifice to step up last Thursday as we had no other goalkeepers available." Luca Toni is having yet another good season in front of goal… "I’m happy for him. He’s showing that he still has that desire and quality. At this point in his career he needs a team that will allow him to play and play for him. We couldn’t guarantee him that with the arrivals of Gomez and Rossi. Well done to him." nguon: violachannel
Alessandro Diamanti's missed penalty and a goalkeeping error from Norberto Neto proved costly for Fiorentina as Verona snatched a 1-0 in Serie A on Monday.
Vincenzo Montella's Fiorentina had failed to win their past three matches in all competitions and were looking to keep their slim hopes of a top-three finish alive at Stadio Artemio Franchi.
Diamanti had the perfect chance to put them ahead in the second half, but he fluffed his lines from 12 yards.
And Verona made them pay in the 90th minute when Neto made a hash of a routine effort from Lazaros Christodoulopoulos allowing substitute Mounir Obbadito pounce.
Fiorentina enjoyed the better of the first-half openings and Rafael kept the scores level just before the half-hour mark with a superb save from Alberto Gilardino's near-post flick after the striker got in front of his man to meet Andrea Lazzari's cross from the left.
The flashpoint of the match came in the 67th minute when Rafael was adjudged to have brought down Gilardino, but the goalkeeper redeemed himself by diving low to his left to deny Diamanti from 12 yards.
But while one goalkeeper was hero, the other proved a zero as Neto spilled Christodoulopoulos' effort from the edge of the box and Obaddi was on hand to tap home the winner to move Verona 13 points clear of the drop zone.
