Frustrated Fiorentina Fall in Shootout - Friday, 2 May 2008

After three and half hours of football, nothing could separate I Viola and Rangers. After the 0-0 draw at Ibrox in the first leg, the Scottish side held firm at the Stadio Artemio Franchi to force extra time and then took the game all the way to the lottery of the shootout.

Cesare Prandelli has criticised Rangers’ approach, accusing them of negative tactics. He may be right but his side came up against a stubborn Rangers defence who seemed to put up a brick wall in front of their goal over both legs. It may have been a tense semi final with Prandelli’s side dominating the chances but it won’t be remembered for the style of football played for most of it. However football is a tactical game and Walter Smith has won his tactical battle with Prandelli and seen his side progress to the final.

Brave defending and missed opportunities somehow kept the scores level right through to the end of extra time. The introduction of Vieri was unable to break the deadlock, although in truth he squandered two good chances to win the game late on. Sadly he didn’t look sharp and was in the shadow of his former glory.

With the Rangers goal under constant bombardment, it was a question of whether they could hold on long enough to force extra time and penalties. Sebastien Frey played one of the easiest games he’ll ever play but late drama almost saw Fiorentina pay the price of failing to convert their numerous chances as the G’ers created their best chances of the game, a curling shot which Frey did well to punch and then almost forced in a corner that the Viola keeper failed to deal with.

A moment of madness saw a second yellow for Daniel Cousin, losing his cool as he put his head in against Fabio Liverani, and in extra time this could have proved to have been the big turning point in the game but time ran out and the match went to Penalties. Frey had given his side the advantage saving the first penalty from Ferguson, but after 3 penalties it was all-square as Liverani saw Rangers keeper Neil Alexander guess the right way. Vieri then blazed horribly over the bar allowing striker Nacho Novo to send Rangers to the final in Manchester, England.

Rangers’ run to the final hasn’t been the most exciting at times, their approach has been stubborn and the plucky side just won’t lie down. It seems it only takes a second to score a goal and this is the approach they are taking; stop the opposition scoring at all costs and try and pinch a one goal win or as last night showed force the game into penalties. They will come up against Zenit St. Petersberg in the City of Manchester Stadium and this is where I feel there luck will run out. The Russian side have impressed since qualifying from the group stages in 3rd place. After defeating Marseille 3-3 on away goals they then cruised to victory against Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 on aggregate after an impressive 4-1 at the BayArena. This was then topped by a 4-0 demolition at home to German giants Bayern Munich, after holding out for a 1-1 draw in the first leg at the Allianz Arena. If Zenit can carry these performances into the final and not the one win in 4 that saw them scrape through the qualifying group stages then the UEFA cup will be heading home with them for the clubs first major European honour.

Sadly the great adventure is now over Fiorentina, it wasn’t meant to be this season, luck wasn’t on their side, they now have to focus soley on the league once more and clinch that final Champions League spot ahead of Milan and Sampdoria to regain some satisfaction from this season.

Puds