Fiorentina Fixtures List - 08/09

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Fixtures: Fiorentina-Juventus first
Friday 25 July, 2008
The fixtures for the 2008-09 season have been announced in Rome and Fiorentina will host bitter rivals Juventus on the opening day.

After weeks of anticipation, Serie A’s clubs finally know who they will be facing on the opening day – the weekend of August 31.

The pick of the fixtures sees a rejuvenated Juventus travel to the Stadio Artemio Franchi for a grudge match with Fiorentina.

Jose Mourinho’s debut proper on the Inter bench is a testing trip to Marassi to play Sampdoria.

Ronaldinho’s first Serie A game will be at San Siro against newly promoted Bologna, while Roma host Napoli in a tense encounter at the Stadio Olimpico.

Serie B play-off winners Lecce visit Torino and Cadetti champions Chievo ease their way in by welcoming Reggina to the Stadio Bentegodi.

The first major derby is Milan-Inter in Week 5, while Juventus and Torino clash in Week 8 and Roma and Lazio cross swords in Week 12.

Fiorentina-Inter is Week 9 and Juventus-Roma is Week 10 – the same day as Milan host Napoli.

Week 13 sees the Derby d’Italia as Inter host Juventus, while Milan travel to Juve in Week 16 and the rematch will be a thrilling end of season encounter.

The close of the campaign is packed with mouth-watering ties, most notably including Milan-Roma in the penultimate week.

The last day sees Juventus play Lazio, Fiorentina host Milan, Roma take on Torino and Inter play home to Atalanta.

The season starts on Saturday August 30 and concludes on May 31, 2009.

Meanwhile, the Presidents of Serie B decided to boycott the ceremony as a protest after the top-flight clubs refused to guarantee the amount of money they would give their Second Division colleagues when TV rights were agreed.

Last year a total of £50m was promised, but there have been no assurances so far this time around.

“There was no agreement and so we won’t be present for the presentation of the new fixtures,” Frosinone chief Maurizio Stirpe explained.

“We have decided to leave the party to Serie A and the next step for the second tier clubs will be not to play.”

Week 1 fixtures:

Atalanta – Siena
Cagliari – Lazio
Catania – Genoa
Chievo – Reggina
Fiorentina – Juventus
Milan – Bologna
Roma – Napoli
Sampdoria – Inter
Torino – Lecce
Udinese – Palermo

one of the big one for the viola.

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Prandelli eyes August danger Friday 25 July, 2008

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Cesare Prandelli is concerned at the pressure piled on Fiorentina in August with the Champions League and Serie A opener with Juventus.

“It is a tough fixture list and we start straight away with a great team like Juventus,” said the Coach after the calendar was drawn up this evening.

The Viola have a very difficult start to the campaign, as they'll have Juve in Week 1 followed by a trip to Napoli.

They'll welcome Inter in Week 9, which is a midweek round on October 29, while the away tie with Roma is on November 30.

“It is going to be tricky, but right now we have to focus on the Champions League preliminary round in mid-August, the two most important games of our season.”

The real problems for Fiorentina may well arise at the end, as the final match of the season is against Milan at the Stadio Artemio Franchi on May 31, 2009.

“It is a fiery start, as in August we have to go through the Champions League and straight through to the Serie A opener with Juventus,” added general manager Sandro Mencucci.

“The finale with Milan will also be very exciting.”

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