Liverpool's Champions League fate may be out of their hands but that is not to say it has already been decided. Fiorentina would need to beat Lyon at Stadio Artemio Franchi tomorrow night to be sure of reaching the knock-out stage at the Premier League side's expense and, if recent history is anything to go by, that is certainly not a foregone conclusion.
After being drawn in the same group last year, Fiorentina and Lyon have faced each other three times in this competition over the past 15 months, and so far the Italians' record reads: drawn one, lost two. When the two sides met in Florence in the fifth game of the group stage last season Fiorentina knew they needed a win to have any hopes of reaching the knock-out stages. They lost 2-1.
That was with something approaching a full-strength side, a luxury that the Fiorentina manager, Cesare Prandelli, has already acknowledged he will not have at his disposal tomorrow night. The former Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu, who tore the meniscus in his knee earlier this month, was ruled out of this game by his manager on Sunday, as was his most likely replacement, Stevan Jovetic – the scorer of both Fiorentina's goals against Liverpool in September – though the latter has since trained and still hopes to be involved. The centre-back Alessandro Gamberini is also out injured.
"We are better than last season, this squad has matured a great deal," said the Fiorentina captain, Dario Dainelli, when reminded of last year's defeat to Lyon. But in the league, at least, there has been scant evidence of improvement.
After a 3-2 defeat to newly-promoted Parma on Saturday, Fiorentina sit sixth, two points worse off than they were at the corresponding point last term. Many fans are frustrated at the club's failure to reinvest more than a fraction of the €20.5m they received when selling Felipe Melo to Juventus in the summer. A defence that had already given up five goals in two Champions League games against Debrecen was opened up far too easily by Parma, and Prandelli will be all too aware that Lyon have scored at least once in every Champions League game they have played since the 2007-08 season. That puts a lot of pressure on Gilardino – sent off in the first leg for what was ruled to be an elbow on Jérémy Toulalan – who is likely to play alone up front in the absence of Mutu and Jovetic.
Lyon, however, have injuries of their own to contend with, and are likely to be without midfielders Maxime Gonalons and Toulalan, full-backs Anthony Réveillère and François Clerc and centre-back Mathieu Bodmer. Although they sit third in Ligue 1, Claude Puel's side are also coming off a disappointing result, having conceded a late equaliser to draw 1-1 with a last-placed Grenoble team who had previously claimed one point from 12 games.
The French side has already qualified but their captain Cris insisted that did not mean they would take their foot off the pedal tomorrow. "The objective was to qualify, now we have the chance to get first place," said Cris. "It will be hard because Fiorentina want to book their place. We're expecting a very physical match."
After being drawn in the same group last year, Fiorentina and Lyon have faced each other three times in this competition over the past 15 months, and so far the Italians' record reads: drawn one, lost two. When the two sides met in Florence in the fifth game of the group stage last season Fiorentina knew they needed a win to have any hopes of reaching the knock-out stages. They lost 2-1.
That was with something approaching a full-strength side, a luxury that the Fiorentina manager, Cesare Prandelli, has already acknowledged he will not have at his disposal tomorrow night. The former Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu, who tore the meniscus in his knee earlier this month, was ruled out of this game by his manager on Sunday, as was his most likely replacement, Stevan Jovetic – the scorer of both Fiorentina's goals against Liverpool in September – though the latter has since trained and still hopes to be involved. The centre-back Alessandro Gamberini is also out injured.
"We are better than last season, this squad has matured a great deal," said the Fiorentina captain, Dario Dainelli, when reminded of last year's defeat to Lyon. But in the league, at least, there has been scant evidence of improvement.
After a 3-2 defeat to newly-promoted Parma on Saturday, Fiorentina sit sixth, two points worse off than they were at the corresponding point last term. Many fans are frustrated at the club's failure to reinvest more than a fraction of the €20.5m they received when selling Felipe Melo to Juventus in the summer. A defence that had already given up five goals in two Champions League games against Debrecen was opened up far too easily by Parma, and Prandelli will be all too aware that Lyon have scored at least once in every Champions League game they have played since the 2007-08 season. That puts a lot of pressure on Gilardino – sent off in the first leg for what was ruled to be an elbow on Jérémy Toulalan – who is likely to play alone up front in the absence of Mutu and Jovetic.
Lyon, however, have injuries of their own to contend with, and are likely to be without midfielders Maxime Gonalons and Toulalan, full-backs Anthony Réveillère and François Clerc and centre-back Mathieu Bodmer. Although they sit third in Ligue 1, Claude Puel's side are also coming off a disappointing result, having conceded a late equaliser to draw 1-1 with a last-placed Grenoble team who had previously claimed one point from 12 games.
The French side has already qualified but their captain Cris insisted that did not mean they would take their foot off the pedal tomorrow. "The objective was to qualify, now we have the chance to get first place," said Cris. "It will be hard because Fiorentina want to book their place. We're expecting a very physical match."
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