Anger at Fiorentina amid claims of dressing-room fighting ahead of Hearts match

Fiorentina today rejected claims of dressing-room unrest and pleaded with fans to back them ahead of Thursday’s Europa Conference League tie against Hearts.

A controversial press conference took place this afternoon at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, during which Italian media questioned head coach Vincezo Italiano and his players.

Defender Lorenzo Venuti asked fans not to turn on the team after they were booed from the field after Monday’s 4-0 home defeat by Lazio. Italian journalists also jostled for position to fire questions, with one reacting angrily at not being able to do so.

Italiano is under pressure with Fiorentina sitting 13th in Serie A after finishing seventh last season. A result against Hearts would make them strong favourites to qualify from Group A of the Europa Conference League.

“When you lose it’s like it’s a catastrophe, people think we are fighting, that we are not a united team in the locker room but I can assure you this is not the case,” said Venuti.

“When you have a defeat there are many aspects you need to take into account, it’s not only about team spirit because I can assure you the team spirit is high, there are no issues in the locker room, there is no trouble between the players.

“Everyone wants out of this situation, I can assure you we are working very hard, this team is united and to try and bring back Fiorentina where it was last year.”

Asked about being jeered from the field, Venuti answered philosophically. “If people are booing us it is because the expectations are very high. We raised the bar last season and this is the consequence, If they are booing it is because we are not meeting those expectations right now.

Lorenzo Venuti asked fans not to turn on the team after they were booed from the field after Monday’s 4-0 home defeat by Lazio. Picture: Gabriele Maltinti/Getty

“This might sound trivial but I want to say to the fans, please keep supporting us because we need them. They need to leave this destructive criticism aside. We know what we need to do and we are working eervy day to solve our problems. Everyone is 100 per cent committed to getting out of this situation.

“I understand the fans, they are very passionate. But I want them to do what they do very well, which is to be our 12th man on the pitch.”

Italiano stressed that the Conference League remains high on his priority list and stressed last week’s 3-0 victory over Heats at Tynecastle was not as straightforward as the scoreline might suggest.

“The only trouble with this competition is the recovery time,” said the coach. “We have people who are not used to playing at 100 per cent every three days. But it helps create pace, intensity and quality, so I believe this competition is great training for us.

Hearts will play Fiorentina in the Stadio Artemio Franchi on Thursday.

“We showed we are good at reacting in Scotland last week. I heard people say it was an easy win. I can assure you there are no easy games, we were good last week and we need to be better on Thursday.

“We have played nine matchdays in Serie A and we are six points less off where we were last season, but there is a long way to go. I think this is the match where we need to react to the bad result against Lazio. We will go on to the pitch to confirm the good things we did against Hearts and in the first part of the game against Lazio.”