The winter break is over in Italy, which means calcio is back. Fiorentina travelled to face Torino in the Coppa Italia round of 16. This match promised to be a tight encounter since only one point separates both teams in Serie A. Their first match of the season, back in October, even finished in a 1–1 draw.
The match was very balanced, proving the parity between the two sides. Despite being the away team, Fiorentina played aggressively from the first minute. Their aggression paid dividends because they returned to Florence with a late 2-0 win, thus securing their place in the quarter-final. Stefano Piolis tactical masterclass was the reason why La Viola were able to beat Walter Mazzarris Torino in their home. This tactical analysis will take a deeper look at the game using statistics.
Starting line-ups
Former Paris St Germain goalkeeper, Salvatore Sirigu, started the game between the sticks. On the flanks, Chelsea loanee Ola Aina and Lorenzo De Silvestri provided the width as wing-backs. Up front, Iago Falque stood alongside the captain, Andrea Belotti. Sasa Lukic, Christian Ansaldi, and Alejandro Berenguer had to start from the bench.
Meanwhile, for the visitors, Nikola Milenkovic and Cristiano Biraghi started as full-backs. Former Everton player Kevin Mirallas started alongside Federico Chiesa and Sevilla loanee, Luis Muriel up top. Marko Pjaca and Giovanni Simeone were benched for this game.
