FLORENCE (ITALPRESS) – “This is definitely an important period of the season because the decisive conference and championship games are coming, we have many clashes with teams fighting for the top areas of the standings and we know that we have to face them in the best way. I train both the head and the body, it is as important the head as the body, although probably now the mental aspect is even more important.” It is a more serene Raffaele Palladino speaking on the eve of the first leg of the Conference round of 16 match between Panathinaikos and Fiorentina, scheduled for tomorrow night in Athens.
Only six days ago, a few hours before the challenge against Lecce, he had appeared tense and worried, probably also about his future. Instead, today he explains, “The boys give me serenity because I see during training that they give everything, they follow what we rehearse to perfection and I see that the group continues to grow, to be even stronger, so on this I am calm, I just have to concentrate on putting them in the best possible conditions to express themselves at their best.”
Palladino therefore appears more relaxed, but he wants maximum concentration from his players, knowing full well that it has not always gone like this in this European year. “The Conference certainly gives us the opportunity to give continuity to the result obtained against Lecce, we have to understand that we have to approach the match well tomorrow because so many times in the Conference we didn’t and we started with a handicap. Often we went under and this must not happen, the approach tomorrow must be violent, that of a team that takes the field with great energy because certainly in this stadium the pitfalls are many. We have to be good at attacking right away, we have to play with great fire because the match will surely be difficult.”
Therefore, it will not be a Fiorentina that will also manage its strengths in view of the return match. “Challenges in 180 minutes are matches on which you have the chance to play the first leg and the return leg, however, we faced and prepared this match as we prepare all matches, that is, to try to win it. We know that tomorrow we face a good team with great individuality, especially up front. They have important players, Tete, Djuricic, Ioannidis, it is a well-coached team, we will play in a very hot stadium. The pitfalls are there, however, we came here with personality and we have to take the field with great maturity because we also need to make a courageous performance.”
Palladino announced that the starter in goal will be Terracciano: “He is a great goalkeeper, a great man, I and the club believe in him, I have two strong goalkeepers, we also have Martinelli who is a great young prospect, but Pietro will play tomorrow because he deserved to do so.” Palladino did not elaborate on Kean, who is back from a head injury (“He is available as are Zaniolo, Gudmundsson and Beltran”) and concluded, “It is obvious that over the course of the championship there are also negative moments and we have faced them, moments where we have lowered our points average a bit. I honestly believe that the cure to overcome them is simply to continue to grow, to work, to play and to recover especially the guys who are out because Folorunsho, Colpani and Adli are very important players for us. We have to continue to work well as the team is doing.”
– Photo Ipa Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
