When was the last time Fiorentina played in the Champions League?

Even old fans who are a little older are about to forget that Fiorentina has been insulated from European competition since Fiorentina fans called "damn Cherrigori" to death, Fiorentina has always been insulated from European competition, not to mention the Champions League, and even the League Cup has not appeared in the name Fiorentina for a long time.

Now, Fiorentina is finally back, and the Purple Lily is finally back in Europe after several years of convincing.

With three days to go before the game, fans can't sit still, and away tickets are even more hard to find, for them, the team can return to European competition, especially the Champions League, which symbolizes Shijie's top club competition, it is like a dream.

Especially the fans who have experienced the lowest period of Fiorentina, the current Champions League, if you look at it at the time, it is unimaginable.

But the truth is, Florence is really back.

Shakhtar Donetsk, a giant team from Ukraine, feels somewhat unfamiliar to fans of Europe's mainstream leagues.

However, in Ukraine, and even in Eastern Europe, Shakhtar Donetsk is definitely a club at the level of kings, and in the Ukrainian domestic league, Shakhtar Donetsk has long replaced the more familiar Dynamo Kiev and become the absolute hegemon of the league.

Donetsk is a famous coal city in Ukraine, and the Donbass Stadium, the home of Shakhtar Donetsk, is the most Haode stadium in Ukraine, spending 320 million euros to build.

The owner of the team is Akmetov, the richest man in Ukraine, who owns Shakhtar Donetsk and brings Ukrainian football to Shijie.

Akmetov has not only the money, but also the heart, and since taking over the Shakhtars in 1996, Akmetov has been determined to build a first-class club.

Akmetov is to Ukraine what Abramovich is to Russia. According to Forbes Fortune magazine in the United States, his personal wealth is as high as $2.3 billion. He is the richest man in Ukraine, and his power has even touched Ukrainian politics. But he is not a football layman, and the current Shakhtar team has long since replaced Dynamo Kyiv as the supremacy of the Ukrainian league.

In 1996, after the death of Bragin, the former president of Shakhtar Donetsk, Akhmetov, who had served as an adviser to the former, took over the club.

Akmetov's deepest impression was that on one occasion, after the Shakhtars lost at home, Akmetov was so angry that he kicked the luxury cars of almost every major player in the parking lot several times.

His passion for football is known throughout the country.

Digan is familiar with Shakhtar Donetsk, or because in his previous life, this team has gone abroad with several very good Brazilian players, and the transfer value has broken records, the most famous Willian transfer to Chelsea has even reached 14 million euros, and Fernandinho's transfer to Manchester City also has 10 million euros.

It is the joining of these players that has given the Shakhtars the strength to win in the European arena, in addition to foreign aid, the local players trained by the Shakhtars themselves are also quite good, in this Ukrainian national team, a total of six internationals play for the Shakhtars, second only to the nine of Dynamo Kyiv.

Although at the time of the group draw, many people regarded the Shakhtars as the role of accompanying the prince to study, and perhaps they would end up like this, but the strength of this team should definitely not be underestimated.

Although Fiorentina fans have now credited Fiorentina with the three points of the first game of the group stage, within the Fiorentina team, Digan has demanded that all players must pay attention to this opponent.

Degan's reason is simple, which team can make it to the group stage of the Champions League is really a meat foot?

Degan, like everyone else, doesn't think Shakhtar Donetsk have what it takes to make it to the knockout rounds, and at best they are contenders for League Cup qualification.

But who can guarantee that the Donetsk miners will not become the spoilers of Florence's group, and if these miners make a revolution and make trouble on Florence's head, it will be a lot of fun.

Deegan asked his team-mates to be vigilant, and as the team's head coach Prandelli will not take any of his opponents lightly, he began to gather all the information about Shakhtar Donetsk after the game against Atalanta.

In fact, the work began right after the group draw, and this summer, as he continued to tinker with the squad, Prandley also set out to build up his coaching staff, which included a role dedicated to gathering information on opponents.

At present, the three most threatening players in the Shakhtar lineup, one of them is Croatia's left wing-back, international Srna, this player gives the impression of Carlos when he was young, the assist is very sharp, and the tackles are also extremely fierce, as a full-back he actually scored seven goals last season, which shocked European football a little.

Another is their midfield core Brazilian Fernandinho, as a midfielder, Fernandinho in addition to contributing his liliang in defense, in addition to the offense often has some successes, in Shakhtar Donetsk, he plays a role, basically AC Milan's Pirlo.

Since joining Shakhtar in 2005, he has played 34 games in his first season, including 23 league appearances, scoring three goals in the league.

In the following two seasons, Fernandinho shone even more, leading the emerging Ukrainian powerhouse to defeat Dynamo Kyiv to win the championship for two consecutive years.

There is also a player who is an old acquaintance of Serie A, Cristiano. Lucarelli!

Although he spent most of his career in small teams, the Livorno striker was a prolific goalscorer and made his Serie A debut in 1997 in a 4-2 home win over Bologna for Atalanta.

Since then, Lucarelli's career has had its ups and downs, and despite his scoring prowess, he has never been favoured by the giants, scoring 29 goals in 71 Italian second division games for Perugia, Cosenza and Padua.

In the 1998/1999 season, Lucarelli also had a brief stint abroad, but due to the lack of adaptation, Lucarelli scored only one goal in 12 La Liga games for Valencia.

Upon his return to Italy, Lucarelli joined Lecce and quickly made a name for himself in Serie A. Two seasons later he moved to Torino, where he struggled as a striker in 2002/2003, scoring just one goal in 26 league games and was eventually relegated.

After being relegated, he returned to his hometown of Livorno in the summer of 2003 to join the team, and after a season in the second division, Livorno rushed to Serie A, and in his first Serie A season for his hometown team, Lucarelli finished second in Serie A with 24 goals, only behind Digan, who had gone crazy that season, and left behind Parma's darling Gilardino and Montella, who saved Roma several times.

The outstanding performance made Lippi, the head coach of the national team at the time, already pay attention to the prolific goalscorer.

At the time, Lucarelli was the player that everyone wanted, but he was adamant and he couldn't make another mistake. Even Spartak Moscow made an offer of £3 million to Livorno, and on top of that, the Russian Premier League side also offered Lucarelli a two-and-a-half-year contract with an annual salary of more than £1.7 million, far more than his current salary at Livorno, but Lucarelli refused.

For Lucarelli, perhaps staying at Livorno is the best option, as there are no strong opponents to compete with him for the main position. He doesn't have to be afraid, he'll be on the bench with a bunch of big-name stars.

It's hard for a player over 30 years old to experience glory anymore, especially now, in today's football shijie, whoever doesn't score a goal will quickly disappear from people's eyes, and even more so for goalscorers.

Originally, the story should have been like this, but this summer, Lucarelli suddenly decided to join Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine, Shakhtar Donetsk paid a transfer fee of 8 million euros to Livorno, and the 31-year-old Lucarelli will get a three-year contract from Donetsk, with a total salary of 4 million euros for three years, a total transfer contract of 12 million euros, which is unthinkable for a 31-year-old player, Lucarelli also became the first Italian player to play in the Ukrainian league.

Last season, Prandelli's Fiorentina played against Livorno, and although the team won the game, Lucarelli scored a goal in each of the two games.

In this Champions League group stage, Fiorentina faced Shakhtar Donetsk, and it was clear that the most important task for the players was how to keep Lucarelli in the box and not give him a chance to show himself.

Some Prandelli had a headache at this time, and originally thought that he could meet the weakest opponent in the first round of the group stage, and Fiorentina could easily open the situation.

However, after watching a few games of Shakhtar Donetsk last season, especially against another giant side in the Ukrainian league, Dinham Kyiv, Prandli found that the opponent was not weak at all.

If their lack of European experience is something that can be exploited, it is a pity that in this regard, Fiorentina and the other side are half a pound.

"It's really the same as what Rod said, the team that can participate in the Champions League group stage, there really is no weak team! Looks like we're really going to get up to the good times! ”

The European experience of the two teams, no one can say anyone, they can be called new faces, and the strength of the team, maybe Fiorentina is better, but Shakhtar Donetsk has the advantage of being at home, coupled with the consistent iron-blooded style of Eastern European football, this opponent can also deserve to be a tough nut.

"Cesare! The main players of the Shakhtar team are very young, maybe ~~~~~~~" Antonelli's words were halfway through, and he swallowed them back, speaking of youth, now in the whole of Europe, there are several teams that can be compared with Fiorentina, and the title of the Young Guard is not for nothing.

Prandelli stared at the TV screen, pondering the weaknesses of the opponent in his heart, on the back line, the central defenders are tall, the assists of the two fullbacks are sharp and fast, the midfielders, the defense is fierce, and the attacking ability is not bad, especially the two wings, the front, it is still unknown, the Ukrainian league has not started yet, and no one knows whether Lucarelli will break out.

Leak!?

Prandelli watched several matches in a row, and against such a completely unfamiliar opponent, unfamiliar with the opponent's tactical characteristics was the most troublesome part, and he could only understand the opponent through the game video.

Suddenly, Prandley's eyes lit up!

On the TV screen, a dark-skinned Brazilian was taking the ball in midfield, observing it, and then passing it into the opposition penalty area with a long pass, and the center-forward Brandan smashed the opponent's goal with a header.

Maybe you can!

Prandelli's brow furrowed, and he felt that the room smelled like Dior's perfume, and the dim room became brighter, and even the bare heads of Antonelli and Danner, a member of the coaching staff, became cute.

The next day, the Fiorentina squad flew to Donetsk, their next match, to challenge their first group opponents in the Champions League, Shakhtar, at what is said to be the best stadium in Europe.

The enthusiasm of the Fiorentina fans is unimaginable, and the Fiorentina fan organization gathered a total of tens of thousands of fans to cheer on their beloved purple lilies in this game.

At the practice meeting at the airport, Deegan also made a declaration of victory on behalf of the whole team: "We do not despise any opponent, and we will not be afraid of any opponent, Fiorentina has been away from the top European competition for many years, and now it is time to tell our opponents, Fiorentina is back, the purple lilies will bloom in the Champions League, this game, Fiorentina must win!" ”

Degan's victory announcement drew cheers from the fans, who knew that Deegan never broke his word, and if he said he would win, then the final winner of this match would be Fiorentina.

Hold aloft the fluttering purple flag

On the pitch of challenge and courage

We are inspired by an eternal hope

Inspiration to eleven players and a heart

Oh, Florence!

You are the queen of football shijie

Oh, Florence!

No matter where you are, you fight valiantly

In the years of defeat and victory

History records all of your legends

The Florentine anthem resounded in the sky!