Palladino: ‘Fiorentina must concentrate on Pafos, not Inter’ | OneFootball

Raffaele Palladino warns Fiorentina must be ‘completely concentrated’ on Pafos and the Conference League, despite the looming Serie A showdown with Inter.

It kicks off at the Stadio Artemio Franchi on Thursday at 20.00 GMT.

The Viola had won their first two games and have been on sparkling form in Serie A with seven consecutive victories, but suffered a surprise defeat to APOEL last time out.

“The Conference League matters as much as Serie A, certainly,” insisted the coach in his press conference.

“The objective tomorrow is to put in a great performance against a quality side, that is top of its domestic league and beat APOEL in the Conference League, the team that beat us. They are good both in defence and attack, so it will not be easy.

“We don’t want to drop more points along the way, as we want to finish in the top eight and avoid the play-off round. We must be completely concentrated.”

Palladino keeps Fiorentina focused

Fiorentina’s foward Moise Kean scores during the Serie match between ACF Fiorentina and AS Roma, which ended 5-1 at Artemio Franchi Stadium in Florence, Italy, 27 October 2024. EPA-EFE/CLAUDIO GIOVANNINI

There is nonetheless squad rotation, with Palladino confirming that defender Marin Pongracic will return to the starting XI after injury problems.

However, Albert Gudmundsson and Amir Richardson are still out of action ahead of Sunday’s Serie A head-to-head with Inter.

Both teams are stuck together in second place on 28 points, along with Lazio and Atalanta, one adrift of leaders Napoli.

“I think Gudmundsson will be back with us regularly in training from Friday and we’ll try to have him back against Inter. I know everyone is waiting for Sunday, but we must be concentrated on tomorrow and remember danger is always around the corner. It would be a real pity to slip up here, we need to build up to Inter via the Conference League.

“I will field the best team that I can tomorrow, knowing whoever I field will give 100 per cent. It’s important that we do not get off balance no matter what happens, as the defeat in Nicosia did not come at the end of a bad performance either. The Conference League has a lot of teams who defend deep and strike on the counter, so we’ve got to be on our toes and keep the preventative marking ready.”

Cristiano Biraghi missed the last game with a calf issue and Palladino announced that the Fiorentina captain will be on the bench tomorrow, while Jonathan Ikone is ready to start after a period of mourning following the death of his father.