What is ACF Fiorentina? Facts and background

Associazione Calcio Firenze Fiorentina SpA, or simply ACF Fiorentina, is a football club founded in Florence, one of the important cities of the Tuscany region of Italy.

The colors of the ACF Fiorentina team, which was founded in 1926, were Red - White in the first days of its establishment, but were changed to Purple - White in 1928 as it is today. Since then the team has been known as "i Viola" (The Violets). The football team plays its home matches at the 'Comunale' Stadium "Artemio Franchi" with a capacity of 47,282 spectators.

At the beginning of the 2000-2001 season, Fatih Terim was appointed as the technical director. Despite the successful results obtained in Serie A for 18 weeks, Fatih Terim resigned because he could not get along with the club president Cechi Gori. During his 6-month tenure, he achieved very successful results against the leading teams of Italian football, Milan, Juventus and Rome, and reached the final by eliminating Milan in the Italian Cup.

They won the Italian Cup by eliminating the Parma team in the final matches under the management of Roberto Mancini. They finished the 2005-2006 season in 4th place and qualified for the UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds. Immediately afterwards, after the football scandal that broke out at the beginning of the 2006-2007 season, they were relegated together with Juventus and Lazio clubs on the grounds of match-fixing, and then, together with the Lazio club, these penalties were converted into starting the league with minus points.

international history

While Fiorentina won the Cup Winners' Cup once, they lost the cup in the final once and played in the semi-finals of the cup once.

In the Champions League, Fiorentina played in the final once and lost the cup. It has reached the quarter finals once and the last 16 rounds twice in the cup.

In the UEFA Cup, it played in the final once and the semi-final twice.

Champions League / Champion Clubs' Cup — 5 — 45 — 21 — 15 — 9 — 63 — 49
Uefa Cup / Uefa Europa League — 16 — 98 — 43 — 30 — 25 — 129 — 95
Uefa Cup Winners' Cup — 5 — 28 — 17 — 4 — 7 — 52 — 27
UEFA Europa Conference League — 1 — 11 — 8 — 2 — 1 — 24 — 9
Total — 26 — 182 — 89 — 51 — 42 — 268 — 180

Note: In the 2008-09 season, it first competed in the Champions League and then continued on its way to the UEFA Cup. He competed in European Cups for a total of 26 seasons.

UEFA Champions League / Champion Clubs' Cup

It participated in a European Cup for the first time in the 1956-57 season. That season, they went undefeated in the Champion Clubs' Cup, eliminating IFK Norrköping, Grasshopper and Crvena zvezda and reaching the final. They lost 2-0 to Real Madrid in the final.

In the 1969-70 season, they eliminated Östers IF and Dinamo Kyiv and reached the quarter-finals of the Champion Clubs' Cup. Matched with Celtic in the quarter finals. Although they beat their opponent 1-0 at home, they were eliminated by losing 3-0 away.

In the 1999-00 season, Widzew eliminated Łódź and participated in the Champions League groups for the first time in its history. In the groups, AIK was matched against Arsenal and Barcelona. They finished the group with 9 points with 2 wins, 3 draws and 1 defeat. He finished the group in 2nd place and advanced to the next round.

They were paired with Manchester United, Valencia and Bordeaux in the last 16 round groups. They completed the group by collecting 8 points with 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats. Finishing the group in 3rd place, Fiorentina could not reach the quarter-finals and was eliminated.

In the 2008-09 season, they eliminated Slavia Praha and participated in the groups. They were matched against Bayern Munich, FCSB and Olympique Lyonnais in the groups. He finished the group by collecting 6 points with 1 win, 3 draws and 2 defeats. They finished the group in 3rd place and continued their way in the Europa League.

He took part in the Champions League groups for the last time in the 2009-10 season. This season is the club's best performance in the Champions League. Matched with Sporting in the play-off round. Fiorentina, who drew 2-2 and 1-1 with its opponent, skipped the round with the away goals rule and joined the groups. In the groups, Olympique Lyonnais was matched with Liverpool and Debreceni VSC.

It finished the group as leader by collecting 15 points in total with 5 wins and 1 defeat. Thus, Fiorentina finished top of a Champions League group for the first time. Matched with Bayern Munich in the last 16 rounds. Fiorentina beat its opponent 3-2 at home and lost 2-1 away. Fiorentina, who were eliminated by an away goal against their opponent, could not participate in the Champions League again after this match.

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

Fiorentina, one of the most successful teams in Italian football, has achieved success in European cups from time to time. It is the first team to win the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, which was held for the first time in the 1960-61 season. That season, they reached the final by eliminating FC Luzern and Dinamo Zagreb. In the two-legged final, they won the cup by beating Rangers FC 2-0 in Scotland and 2-1 in Italy, 4-1 in total.

The following season, they played in the cup final again. That season, Rapid Wien reached the final by eliminating Dinamo Žilina and Újpest teams. In the cup final, which was planned to be played as a single match, the team drew 1-1 with Atlético Madrid at Ibrox Stadium in Scotland. Thereupon, the match was played again at the Neckarstadion stadium in Stuttgart, Germany, and they lost the cup by losing 3-0 to their opponent.

In the 1966-67 season, Fiorentina, which was paired with the Hungarian team Győri ETO, was surprisingly eliminated by its rival.

He was paired with Beşiktaş in the 1975-76 season and managed to advance to the next round by winning both matches 3-0. In the next round, they were matched against FSV Zwickau. The home team won both matches 1-0, but was eliminated by losing 5-4 on penalties.

It participated in this cup for the last time in the 1996-97 season. That season, Gloria Bistrița reached the semi-finals by eliminating Benfica and Sparta Praha. In the semi-finals, they were eliminated by the Barcelona team, which would become the champions of the cup, with the results 1-1 and 2-0.

UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League

It competed in this cup for the first time in the 1972-73 season. He played his first UEFA Cup match against Eskişehirspor. It eliminated its opponent with scores of 3-0 and 2-1 and advanced to the next round. In the next round, she was paired with Vitoria Setubal. Fiorentina won the home match 2-1 and lost 1-0 away. They were eliminated by their opponent via the away goals rule.

In the 1973-74 season, he was eliminated by CS Universitatea Craiova, with the results 1-0 and 0-0.

In the 1977-78 season, he was eliminated by the Schalke 04 team he was paired with, losing 3-0 and 2-1.

In the 1982-83 season, he was eliminated by the team he was paired with, CS Universitatea Craiova.

In the 1984-85 season, they beat the Fenerbahçe team they were paired with, 2-0 and 1-0, and advanced to the next round. In the next round, they were eliminated by Anderlecht, with the results 6-2 and 1-1.

He matched with Boavista in the 1986-87 season. Both teams won their home matches 1-0. He was eliminated by losing 4-1 to his opponent in the penalty shootout.

In the 1989-90 season, Atlético Madrid reached the final by eliminating Dinamo Kyiv, FC Sochaux, Werder Bremen and Auxerre. They lost the cup to Juventus with the results 0-0 and 3-1 in the two-legged final.

Fiorentina eliminated Hajduk Split in the first round of the 1998-99 season and had an early farewell to the cup by being eliminated by Grasshopper in the next round.

In the 2000-01 season, Tirol was eliminated by Innsbruck in the first round with the results 2-2 and 3-1.

In the 2001-02 season, they eliminated Dnipro and Tirol Innsbruck teams and advanced to the third round. He was eliminated by the Lille team he was paired with in the third round.

In the 2007-08 season, they eliminated FC Groningen and participated in the groups. In the groups, Villarreal was matched with AEK Athens, Mladá Boleslav and IF Elfsborg. They finished the group played over 4 matches undefeated with 2 wins and 2 draws and advanced to the next round. They advanced to the semi-finals by eliminating Rosenborg, Everton and PSV respectively.

In the semi-final, both matches ended 0-0, and they were eliminated by Glasgow Rangers, losing 4-3 in the penalty shoot-out.

By finishing the Champions League group in 3rd place in the 2008-09 season, they earned the right to compete in the Europa League. They were eliminated by Ajax, with a score of 1-1, 1-0, in the last 32 rounds.

In the 2013-14 season, they eliminated Grasshopper team in the play-off round with the away goals rule and participated in the groups. In the groups, Pandurii was matched with Dnipro and Paços de Ferreira. It advanced to the next round by finishing the group undefeated with 5 wins and 1 draw. In the last 32 rounds, they eliminated the Esbjerg team with the scores of 1-1 and 3-1, and made their way to the last 16 rounds.

In the last 16 rounds, they played against their own country's team, Juventus. He bowed to his opponent with the results 1-1 and 1-0 and bid farewell to the cup.

In the 2014-15 season, they were paired with Guingamp, Paok and Dinamo Minsk in the groups. It advanced to the next round by finishing the group as leader with 4 wins, 1 defeat and 1 draw. They advanced to the semi-finals by eliminating Tottenham Hotspur, Roma and Dinamo Kyiv respectively. In the semi-finals, they were eliminated by the Sevilla team that would become champions of the cup.

In the 2015-16 season, they played against Basel, Belenenses and Lech Poznań in the groups. They completed the group with 10 points in total with 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats. They finished the group in 2nd place behind Basel and advanced to the next round. They were eliminated by Tottenham Hotspur, with whom they were matched in the last 32 rounds, losing 1-1 and 3-0.

He competed in the Europa League for the last time in the 2016-17 season. That season, they were paired with Paok, Karabağ and Slovan Liberec in the groups. It finished the group as leader with 13 points, with 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat, and advanced to the next round. They were eliminated by Borussia Mönchengladbach, with whom they were paired in the last 32 rounds.

UEFA Europa Conference League

In the 2022-23 season, it eliminated the Twente team in the play-off round and participated in the Conference League groups for the first time in its history. In group A, Istanbul Başakşehir was matched with Hearts and Rigas teams. He finished the group with 13 points in total, with 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat. They finished the group in 2nd place, lagging behind Başakşehir with a double goal difference, and advanced to the next round.

Having drawn 1-1 with Rigas in the first group match, Fiorentina suffered its first defeat in this cup by losing 3-0 away to Başakşehir. He won his first victory by beating Hearts 3-0 away. He managed to advance to the next round by beating the Braga team he was paired with in the first round, 4-0 and 3-2. Matched with Sivasspor in the last 16 rounds. He managed to beat his opponent 1-0 at home.