Well that’s all from me. It hasn’t been Tottenham’s finest display, but they still have several reasons to be delighted. One, they will be strong favourites to win the tie, what with the away goal and stuff. Two, Dele Alli should have got sent off in the first half? Three, Fiorentina could easily have won anyway: they were poor in the first half but still had the best chances, then their second-half substitutions wrested control of the game from their opponents (for 20 minutes at least) and they also saw Gonzalo Rodriguez’s late header flash wide, when he could so easily have scored. Fiorentina have it all very much to do, but on the plus side they royally entertain fans to multiple Hi-De-Hi impressions at every home game. It’s not much by way of consolation, but there you go. Bye!
Final score: Fiorentina 1-1 Tottenham
It wasn’t a classic, but Spurs have a draw, and an away goal, and head for White Hart Lane with their Europa League destiny very much in their own sweaty palms.
90+3 mins: The ball is hoisted forwards, and the camera finds Gonzalo Rodriguez on the floor, with Harry Kane standing nearby guiltily. The Englishman is booked, and replays show a forearm shove, of no great violence but nevertheless, a forearm shove.
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90+3 mins: Alonso fouls Dembélé, and the final minute will start with a Spurs free kick in their own half.
90+1 mins: There will be three minutes of stoppage time, and they start with Zarate having another shot, from 30 yards. It’s an eye-catching effort, heading up high and then looping down, but a) it’s going narrowly wide, and b) Vorm catches it.
89 mins: Save! And then near miss! Zarate shoots low at the near post from just outside the penalty area, and Vorm falls to his left to push it unconvincingly clear. The ball is put behind for a corner, which is met by Gonzalo Rodriguez at the near post and flashes across goal and just wide of the far post!
88 mins: Alli sends an overhead over the bar! Trippier crossed from the right, and the young English whippet went all acrobatic and shinned it over.
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88 mins: Sorry, not sure that last incident deserved an exclamation mark.
87 mins: A long ball from defence finds Valero bursting down the right, but the linesman raises his flag. And he’s wrong to have done so!
85 mins: This has been a forgettable game. There are now just five minutes left for someone to do something genuinely good.
83 mins: The corner misses everyone and allows Bernardeschi to break, but his first touch is long, allowing Spurs to reclaim the ball.
82 mins: Trippier finds space on the right, but instead of crossing he stops, waits and pulls back to Dier, whose first-time shot from 25 yards is deflected wide.
81 mins: Into the final 10 minutes we roar. Meanwhile, I’m happy to make it clear that this is the Round of 32.
@Simon_Burnton Nowhere on the live feed (on mobile) did it say what round the Spurs match is, had to check on BBC Sport! Worth including ;)
— Cosimo Montagu (@CosimoMontagu) February 18, 2016
79 mins: A delay, as Mauro Zarate has treatment for cramp. The last 10 minutes have seen Fiorentina’s ascendancy wane, and the game return to messy if competitive equality.
78 mins: Hello campers! The final substitution of the evening sees Chadli hooked, and Dier replace him.
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76 mins: Spurs now have a shot, but it’s limp, and from an unhelpful angle, from Kane, and Tatarusanu catches.
75 mins: Vecino has a long-range shot for Fiorentina, and it would probably have nestled just inside the post if Spurs didn’t have a goalkeeper. Which they do.
73 mins: I am enjoying the stadium announcements, preceded as they are with a little two-note xylophone trill that will surely remind all viewers of a certain age of this:
72 mins: Fiorentina continue to push, with the ball just running away from Zarate a couple of times in the last couple of moments.
68 mins: Tottenham, who would surely have preferred him to stay on the bench, are bringing Harry Kane on, with Son going off. Which shows what Pochettino thinks of this second half. Fiorentina have made their final change, Matias Vecino replacing Costa.
67 mins: Dembélé and Badelj both go for a ball bouncing at waist-height. Neither lands boot on the other. Dembélé is booked, puzzlingly in my opinion.
66 mins: Another Fiorentina shot, Alonso trying to bend one in at the far post from the left-hand corner of the area (but missing).
64 mins: Now Fiorentina are doing all the attacking, and Bernardeschi has another long-range shot. This one isn’t deflected, and is harmlessly off-target.
62 mins: Fiorentina ring the changes: Kalinic comes on for Blaszczykowski, to the immense gratitude of everyone forced to type player names in a hurry (me). A minute earlier they brought on Milan Badelj, and took off Josip Ilicic.
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GOAL! Fiorentina 1-1 Tottenham (Bernadeschi, 60 mins)
Goal! From nowhere! Bernadeschi has a shot from 25 yards, and it flicks off Mason, who is closing down half-heartedly, and loops over Vorm and into the top corner!
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58 mins: Spurs are getting a bit of stick online for this diminutive tweet about Alli’s first-half yellow card, which doesn’t mention the fact he kicked a grounded opponent:
30mins @Dele_Alli goes into the book for a challenge on Tomovic, 0-0. #COYS
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 18, 2016
56 mins: Another Spurs shot, this time from Son, 20 yards out, whose low effort zips wide. Good work from Alli in the build-up.
54 mins: Tottenham create a chance! With the entire Fiorentina defence running right to cover Alli’s run, Dembélé slides the ball left to Chadli, who runs into the area, checks onto his right foot, and then shoots unconvincingly low towards the near post, where Tatarusanu saves.
50 mins: Kind of almost-chance for Fiorentina, who slide a low cross in from the left flank, and Zarate meets it at the near post and stabs it goalwards. It almost instantly hits a defender, though, and rumbles wide. The corner is wasted.
48 mins: Davies tries to tackle Blaszczykowski but gets only ankle, and is duly booked.
47 mins: Disallowed Tottenham goal! They win a free kick on the right, Eriksen curls it in and Son stoops to head in at the near post, with Tatarusanu diving in vain. Son, though, was one of two Spurs players standing a yard offside as the ball was struck.
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Peeeeeeeeeep!
46 mins: Into half two we roll, and there’s a Spurs substitution to report: Tom Carroll is off, and Mousa Dembélé is on.
#FiorentinaTottenham: Inizia la ripresa!
— ACF Fiorentina (@acffiorentina) February 18, 2016
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Alli definitely kicked Tomovic in the chest, rather than pulling out of a kick at the last moment, as I suggested earlier, and should have had his marching orders. That apart it’s been a scrappy game, with Fiorentina struggling to cope with Tottenham’s pressing, and Spurs not really sure what to do when they attack.
Half time: Fiorentina 0-1 Tottenham
Half one is over, and Spurs are winning and deserve to be winning on the balance of play if not the totting up of chances – Fiorentina have had a couple of corkers, while Tottenham have little more than that penalty to boast about.
45+1 mins: Into first-half stoppage time we go, and there’ll be just a single minute of it, unless anything unusual happens.
45 mins: Chance for Fiorentina! Valero finds Blaszczykowski bursting into space on the right, he crosses low and the ball ricochets off a couple of legs to Zarate, who blasts over from 15 yards.
44 mins: Spurs keep possession for an age, working the ball down the right flank, into and around the home side’s penalty area, without ever quite creating anything. Still, they’re very much in control at present.
40 mins: Alli runs past Tino Costa, who sticks out an elbow which Alli runs into, prompting much agonised rolling about. Just a free kick.
GOAL! Fiorentina 0-1 Tottenham (Chadli, 37 mins)
Chadli sidefoots into the bottom left corner, with the goalkeeper diving the other way, and Spurs have an away goal!
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Penalty to Spurs!
36 mins: Davies runs into the penalty area, where he’s tripped by Tomovic, and another refereeing decision goes Spurs’ way!
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35 mins: Now Ryan Mason does some shirt-pulling.and is also warned rather than booked. Spurs have benefited from a couple of lenient decisions, and could very well be playing with 10 men, replays of that Dele Alli kick making it look really pretty poor.
32 mins: How did that not go in? Ilicic crosses from the right, the ball goes over the head of Alderweireld and Bernadeschi runs onto it, six yards out, needing only to tap it into the net. Instead, and puzzlingly, he hits it away from goal, and Spurs survive!
32 mins: Dele Alli tustles with Tomovic, who goes to ground. Alli then swings his boot at Tomovic, as if to give him a vicious booting in the ribs, and though he stops himself just in time, he is nevertheless booked.
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29 mins: Wimmer trips Ilicic with a thrusting thigh, and wins a stern talking-to from the referee for his troubles.
26 mins: Save! Eriksen shoots from 35 yards, and though the ball heads straight down the middle of goal it dips viciously, forcing Tatarusanu into a panicked push-over. Nothing comes of the corner.
24 mins: Oooh! Borja Valero tries to slide the ball through the Spurs defence, where Blaszczykowski (I think) was bursting clear, but the ball is intercepted. Very nearly, and probably should have been, a defence-busting pass there, and Valero has his head in his hands after it’s picked off.
23 mins: A quarter of the way through the game, and nothing much has happened. Spurs look pretty comfortable, and have done the more concerted attacking so far, if not concerted enough to really get the ball into any very dangerous positions.
22 mins: Half a chance for Spurs, as the ball breaks to Son on the edge of the area, but instead of taking a snap-shot he waltzes about a bit and eventually loses the ball.
20 mins: Dele Alli is tackled by Davide Astori, who slides in from behind and nicks the ball. This time the referee does show a yellow card.
19 mins: Fiorentina cross from the left, and Davies horrible miscues his attempted right-footed clearance over his own bar. Could have gone anywhere, as they say.
17 mins: Alli carries the ball from halfway towards the Fiorentina penalty area, before passing to Son. An instant after he does so, he is absolutely taken out by a sliding defender. The referee waves play on, Son gives the ball away, Fiorentina attack and Zarate eventually shoots over. The referee appears by this time to have forgotten this very clear bookable offence by then.
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14 mins: I’m trying to work out if referee Felix Zwayer has a particularly loud and shrill whistle, or is just supremely gifted at blowing whistles. “Save the children of course the exact sort of behaviour that got Barcelona a transfer ban and so nearly did it for Real and Athletico too,” notes Jeremy Dresner. “Not worth the risk I suppose.”
13 mins: A shot! It was, I think, the unfortunately lengthily-named Jakub Blaszczykowski with it, but it went straight into a thicket of defensive legs, and stayed there.
11 mins: When the Spurs go Marching In rings out in Florence, as Spurs keep the ball for a while, without doing anything very attacking, before Trippier finds makeshift forward Chadli running offside.
7 mins: Fiorentina win a corner, but are randomly penalised for pushing as the ball flies in, and Spurs have a free-kick. An eagle-eyed official might have spotted Marcos Alonso falling over under pressure and attempting, from the ground, a double-footed up-kick into the chest of his assailant in retribution with quite a nasty look in his eye.
5 mins: Josip Ilicic tries to float the ball over the Spurs backline and into the path of his forwards, but there’s not enough space between back four and keeper for that kind of nonsense, and Vorm collects.
4 mins: If the TV microphones are anything to go by, it’s extremely quiet in the stadium tonight. There are certainly a lot of seats going spare.
3 mins: Alli tricks his way off the left wing and into the penalty area, but runs into trouble and his tackled by Gonzalo Rodriguez.
Peeeeeeeep!
1 min: Off we go! Spurs get things started.
#FiorentinaTottenham: Inizia la partita!
— ACF Fiorentina (@acffiorentina) February 18, 2016
Anthems have been blared and hands shaken. Let’s play!
There’s no sponsor on the Fiorentina shirts. I remember that alcohol producers used to be banned from shirts in France – and maybe still is – but what is it about Fiorentina’s usual logo that has upset Uefa? It is, after all, Save the Children.
Out come the teams! Spurs are all in white, Fiorentina entirely purple-clad, and the officials in red tops and black shorts.
In other-team news, David de Gea has been injured in the warm-up before Manchester United’s Europa League game at Midtylland. Sergio Romero takes his place, with no keeper on the bench. Jacob Steinberg is on the case here.
Mauricio Pochettino has spoken!
I think we have a strong squad and today is a good opportunity for different players to play. We have Hugo Lloris with a very small injury, I think he can be available for next Saturday. We have a lot of games ahead, we are sure we are competitive and we will try to give our best. It’s not important who plays, I think the team tries always to play in the normal way, and the philosophy, we are sure we can compete.
Both teams are different today [to last year]. Last season we were very focused on the Capital One Cup final. It was a difficult period for us. Today they play in a different style. We will expect a very tough game too because they have very good players. We need to compete and give our best.
Some nice moody skyline action over the Artemio Franchi this evening:
If you’re interested in some background on tonight’s referee, you may enjoy this article about him from Die Zeit (in German).
And so, the teams in full and for all posterity:
Fiorentina: Tatarusanu, Tomovic, Rodriguez, Astori, Alonso, Blaszczykowski, Tino Costa, Valero, Bernarderschi, Ilicic, Zarate. Subs: Sepe, Badelj, Vecino, Kalinic, Fernandez, Pasqual, El Babacar.
Tottenham Hotspur: Vorm, Trippier, Alderweireld, Wimmer, Davies, Chadli, Mason, Eriksen, Carroll, Alli, Son. Subs: McGee, Walker, Rose, Kane, Dier, Dembele, Onomah.
Referee: Felix Zwayer (Germany).
Fiorentina have named their team:
#ACFFiorentina: Tatarusanu, Gonzalo, Tomovic, Astori, Alonso, Costa, Kuba, Borja, Zarate, Bernardeschi, Ilicic #FiorentinaTottenham
— ACF Fiorentina (@acffiorentina) February 18, 2016
That’s six changes for Spurs, with Harry Kane on a bench that also includes 20-year-old goalkeeper Luke McGee, who has never played a senior game. Presumably he isn’t related to Bobby, but it seems too good an opportunity to miss.
The teams!
Well, team. Still no sign of Fiorentina’s, but it can’t be long.
#THFC Team: Vorm; Trippier, Alderweireld, Wimmer, Davies; Carroll, Mason (C); Eriksen, Alli, Son; Chadli. #COYShttps://t.co/2sK0PxCcn0
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 18, 2016
Subs: McGee, Rose, Walker, Dembele, Dier, Onomah, Kane. #COYS
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 18, 2016
Hello world!
So, here we are then. Spurs are back at the Stadio Artemio Franchi*, where last season’s Europa League campaign was definitively derailed. So, what can we learn from that game? Handily, someone asked Mauricio Pochettino, so we know the answer. And it is: nothing.
“Last season was very different, some different players and we are in a different period now,” said Pochettino. “Fiorentina are the same because they have a different coach and different players, too. It is a very different team to last season, a different game completely.”
So, that’s that then. Fans of English football may recognise a few faces in the Fiorentina squad, with former Bolton midfielder Marcos Alonso, former Blackburn striker Nikola Kalinic, Borja Valero, once of West Brom, and recent West Ham discard Mauro Zárate in their squad.
Anyway, welcome. Let’s have some fun.
* Franchi was a football administrator and Fifa executive committee member. Of course these days the only thing a Fifa ExCo member is likely to see with their name on is an arrest warrant, but Franchi lived in more honest times (1922-1983, since you ask). Still, you could contrast Franchi – after whom the stadiums of Tuscan sides Fiorentina and Siena are both named – with the English former FA secretary and Fifa president Stanley Rous, who used to have a quarter of Watford’s ground named after him (since rechristened the Graham Taylor Stand) and is now completely forgotten. It is, I suppose, not generally the administrator’s fate to be remembered, unless they’re really very terrible.
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Simon will be here soon enough. Meanwhile, read Jonathan Wilson on how Mauricio Pochettino has made Tottenham’s defence rather sturdy:
Tottenham have the best defensive record in the Premier League. It’s not a sentence we’re used to hearing. Not since 1951 have Spurs finished a campaign with the best defensive record of the division they’ve been in. It’s not the Spurs way. They’re supposed to be about moments of occasional attacking genius set against a background of general flakiness. Not any more.
It’s Tottenham’s pressing that really stands out. They perhaps don’t push quite as high or with such relentlessness as Mauricio Pochettino’s Southampton, but that’s part of his maturation as a manager. In previous years his sides have tended to dip in the latter part of the season, but that dip has become less and less pronounced as he has adapted to the demands of the Premier League. The pressing is more controlled now, and if anything seems even more effective.
Pochettino’s inspiration is clear, the parallels between the Newell’s Old Boys side in which he came of age as a central defender and this Spurs obvious. “When we won the titles, and reached the final of the Copa Libertadores [in 1992], we were very similar to the squad that we have now,” Pochettino said this month. “In terms of the average age of the squad, and in the balance between younger and experienced players. There were very good youngsters – like me – and very good experienced players. A similar balance, a similar project.”
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