Call it taboo or a curse, certainly missing five out of six penalties (four consecutive) represents a record that Vincenzo Italiano would have gladly done without.
Because these continuous errors from the spot have cost Fiorentina important points: it is no coincidence that the Viola team is currently eighth and therefore out of the Europe zone.
Winning last night against Roma would have meant taking a good step forward and even getting closer to the Champions League positions, but instead after Cristiano Biraghi's failed penalty at 2-1 (save by Svilar) the Giallorossi managed to straighten out the match and equalize in the 95th minute ' with LLorente.
A blow for Italiano and his boys who, however, must immediately turn the page given that the return match of the Conference League round of 16 is already approaching, Thursday at 6.45pm at the Franchi stadium, against Maccabi Haifa.
The first leg, last week in neutral Budapest, ended 4-3 for Fiorentina capable of scoring the winning goal in the 95th minute with Barak, but it is a result that does not allow us to let our guard down.
Also because so far the Viola have often conceded in the final minutes.
And then they must resolve the problem of penalties as soon as possible, as their coach also remarked last night: numbers in hand, Fiorentina is the team that has failed the most at the start of the year in the five major European leagues, a ranking in preceded by Real Madrid and Verona (4 each).
Except for Nzola who hit the mark against Udinese in mid-January, Bonaventura made mistakes against Sassuolo, Ikoné against Napoli in the Super Cup semi-final, Nico Gonzalez against Inter and Lazio and yesterday Biraghi against Roma.
Meanwhile, the anticipation for Thursday's match is already growing and with it the concerns linked to obviously non-football reasons: a massive orderly service has been announced in the city and around the stadium and some measures have already been announced such as the closure of the parterres grandstand and Marathon, the ban on carrying bags and backpacks, the obligation to enter the Franchi no later than 6.15 pm, half an hour before the starting whistle.
Measures contested by the Florentine Fans' Association with a statement: "While understanding the delicate situation that a match like the one against a team from Israel determines, penalizing someone to the detriment of others is not an exercise in common sense. Preventing many Florentine fans from accessing the stadium in good time without taking into account work and life commitments is not respectful. Closing the sectors closest to the playing field was not enough, it was also necessary to force everyone to enter 30 minutes early on a weekday, without even providing a plausible explanation. We ask that this limitation which appears to be useless be removed."
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