Fiorentina star Allesandro Biano has been left with a broken nose after being punched by a pitch invader during his side's win over Sivasspor.
The Serie A side travelled to Turkey for the second leg of their Europa Conference League Last 16 clash on Thursday night. La Viola would progress comfortably to the quarter-finals thanks to a 4-1 win at Yeni Sivas 4 Eylül Stadyumu.
But the victory was marred after Gaetano Castrovilli has scored Fiorentina 's final goal of the night. Two Sivasspor supporters invaded the pitch, running around in the hosts' half of the pitch, where Fiorentina players were also celebrating.
As one of the fans was passing Biano, who was walking over to his celebrating team-mates, the man hit the Fiorentina star in the face. The 20-year-old bled from his nose and mouth, leaving the pitch immediately upon the final whistle.
Despite the shocking incident, Biano appeared to be in good spirits once he got back to the dressing room. He posted a photo on his Instagram stories of his bloodied face, with the caption "Not bad".
Following his side's win, Fiorentina boss Vincenzo Italiano revealed Biano's nose had been broken by the punch. Italiano condemned the incident, though insisted it was also a shame that the fan had spoiled the reputation of the Sivasspor crowd.
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“Bianco being punched is just shameful, he didn’t even see the guy coming and now he has a broken nose. It seemed like a celebration, the crowd was pushing their team forward and this gesture ruins everything, despite it being a victory for us," Italiano told Sky Sport Italia.
“It’s terrible that a 20-year-old is the victim of such violence on what was a marvellous evening and is a blemish on what for the most part seemed to be a very nice crowd. We suffered a little with their initial vehemence.
"But we reacted well to equalise and then take control, though it was tricky on a really awful playing surface. With this pitch, we knew that we had to make the most of set plays and Milenkovic did very well with his goal. In fact, this was why we had chosen him tonight."
Bianco’s agent Giuseppe Galli was left furious by the incident, but conceded he will allow the midfielder's lawyers to deal with the incident.
“These things happening in 2023 is shameful. Unfortunately this time, Alessandro paid for the consequences. Let’s hope that the injury is not more serious than expected. Knowing the boy he is serene, but he took a punch,” he told Radio FirenzeViola.
“I know that UEFA already have everything under control, then we’ll put the lawyers in the middle. I’ll be in Florence tonight, I’ll meet with the boy and we’ll decide what to do.”
