Up to five years ago Fiorentina were in the doldrums of the Serie C1 after the financial collapse of the 'old' club from Florence. Things changed dramatically since then as this year Fiorentina are a step away from reaching the UEFA Cup final apart from a possible top-four finish in the Serie A.
This is a decisive week for the side coached by the shrewd Cesare Prandelli. Tomorrow they host Glasgow Rangers in a make-or-break UEFA Cup semi-final return leg and on Sunday they travel to Sardegna to cross swords with troubled Cagliari, who are in desperate need of points to avoid relegation to the Serie B.
Fiorentina have reached new heights ever since Prandelli took over in the summer of 2005. This season, the Viola played consistenly well in the Serie A despite a restricted squad. They are also the only Italian side still playing in UEFA club competitions. Their impressive run in the UEFA Cup is good news for the Serie A in general following the failures of the 'big guns' in continental competitions during this campaign.
Fiorentina have now reached a point in their season where they can't afford to miss. Indeed, 2007/08 could either become one to remember for the fans or a total failure if the club's objectives are not reached. Tomorrow's home match against Rangers is decisive.
Reaching their first UEFA Cup final since 1990 would be a morale-boosting achievement for Fiorentina. After Sunday's 2-2 draw at home with Sampdoria, Fiorentina have seen their four-point lead over fifth-placed Milan being reduced to just two. Prandelli knows that finishing ahead of the outgoing European champions will be difficult in a tension-filled straight for home.
Fiorentina still have to travel to Cagliari and Torino with one remaining home fixture against Parma in the Serie A. Milan's remaining matches are Inter, Napoli (away) and Udinese (home).
Fiorentina look less equipped than Milan at the moment and to survive the double challenge of domestic and Euro club competitions they have to play better than they did last weekend even though Samp scored the equaliser in added time.
However, in their remaining fixtures, Prandelli's men have to prove that their presence in the top echelons of the Serie A is no fluke.
This is the time when Fiorentina, even though they are running out of steam after a long and laborious campaign, should keep control of their nerves and try to move on game by game.
If Fiorentina do succeed in reaching either, or both, of their two targets, it would be a bigger victory for them considering that they off-loaded World Cup striker Luca Toni to Bayern Munich last summer.
In return, the club replaced Toni with club product Giampaolo Pazzini and signed veteran Christian Vieri as his understudy.
The road to Manchester and the UEFA Cup final is not far away and everything is possible for Fiorentina to pip Milan to the last Champions League berth in the Serie A.
It all depends on Prandelli and his players to make this season a memorable one for their fans.
Serie A statistics
2nd successive win (vs Reggina 5-1 and Livorno 4-1) saw Milan back in contention for a Champions League slot. On Sunday, Milan were in a class of their own as they overcame Livorno 4-1 to record their first win in Tuscany since December 2005 (3-0). Following Fiorentina's home draw against Sampdoria, next weekend's derby with Inter has become increasingly crucial for Milan's hopes of making a top-four finish. Fiorentina were leading 2-1 until Daniele Gastaldello hit an injury-time equaliser for Samp. UEFA Cup hopefuls Fiorentina now have a slim two-point lead over Milan with only three games to go.
3 points for Coppa Italia semi-finalists Lazio from their last six winless outings. Last weekend, they were no match to a rampant Juventus who chalked up a third successive win following the victories over Milan (3-2) and Atalanta (4-0). Palermo and Atalanta shared the spoils for only the second time in 15 meetings in Sicily.
3rd win in a row for Reggina against Parma at home as the southerners came from a goal down to win a crucial basement clash. Hector Cuper's Parma took a 25th-minute lead but two Francesco Cozza goals in the second half sealed an important victory for Reggina in their quest to prolong their stay among the elite. Parma's only win in eight visits to Reggio Calabria was on April 10, 2005 (3-1).
4 players - Silveira Juan (Roma), Massimo Paci (Parma), Sebastiano Siviglia (Lazio) and Marco Di Vaio (Genoa) - received marching orders. Torino defender Paolo Hernan Dellafiore was booked twice by the referee, albeit he was not shown the red card. Sampdoria coach Walter Mazzarri was ordered off his bench. Three penalties were awarded by referees. Romanian international Adrian Mutu gave Fiorentina a temporary lead against Sampdoria by converting an 83rd-minute penalty. David Pizarro put Roma in front after scoring from the spot against Torino while Parma midfielder Luca Cigarini ably converted a 25th-minute penalty against Reggina.
4th straight defeat for crisis-hit Torino (vs Empoli 0-1, Genoa 0-3, Inter 0-1 and Roma 1-4) as the Maroons were floored by Roma 4-1 in the capital. Roma's dominance was so defiant that they had already built an unassailable 4-0 lead by the 32nd minute. As things stand at the moment, Torino are only one point clear of the drop zone.
31 goals were scored on the 35th day: 18 coming from the hosts and the remaining 13 from the visitors, who managed two victories. There were three draws, two of which 0-0. Foreigners contributed with 10 goals and there were 15 first-half goals. No own goals were registered. Total number of goals scored so far amount to 886.