(The tape recorder clicks on. I’m packing an overnight bag for Rome. On top of the shirts is a single sheet of paper with “13/5 — OLIMPICO” written on it in block capitals, like I might otherwise forget.)
Act I: Closing Out the League
Saturday 25th April, away to Monza, and we very nearly threw away a routine one. Endrick struck what looked like a late winner in the 80th minute, only for Andrea Petagna to head Monza level five minutes later amid scenes of proper wild celebration from the home end. Monza 1, Fiorentina 1. A frustrating one, and it dropped us from second to third as Napoli leapfrogged us in the table.
We put it right straight away. Monday 4th May, Como at home, and this time there was no late slip — Roger Ibañez headed us in front in the 18th minute and Harvey Elliott wrapped it up on 57, Fiorentina 2, Como 0, 71% of the ball and an xG scoreline that left nothing to argue about. Inter made it official the same afternoon, beating Udinese 4-1 to retain their crown for a second year running — with four games still to spare, which tells you everything about how comfortable their season has been while the rest of us have been scrapping for scraps below them. We’re not done yet ourselves: four matches still to play, but we sit third on 74 points, level with the club’s finish last year, and it’s already enough to have confirmed our place in next season’s Europa Conference League regardless of how those last four go. Not bad at all for a team I was genuinely worried about back when the fixture list got horrible in February.
Act II: Two Transfer Requests I Really Wasn’t Expecting
Just as I was allowing myself a bit of a breather, the dressing room reminded me why I never quite get to relax at this club. Luca Ranieri’s agent got in touch to confirm what’s been coming for weeks: Ranieri has formally considered himself transfer-listed, having lost trust in me over promises I haven’t kept. Fair enough, honestly — I made that bed.
What I did not see coming was the second message, a day or two later, from Lorenzo Lucca’s camp. Lucca — my top scorer, the man who has spent the whole season alternately breaking my heart and mending it, who missed the decisive penalty against PSG and then equalised against Napoli four days later as if to apologise for it — has also lost faith over broken promises and wants to leave. I won’t pretend that one doesn’t sting. You don’t expect the player who’s defined your season, for better and for worse, to be the one handing in a transfer request the week of a cup final.
Act III: Some Good News for Once
Not everything in the inbox this week was bad. Amir Richardson, who’d been quietly unhappy about my team talks since around the time he was playing through a broken arm out of sheer stubbornness, has had a change of heart — my liaison officer tells me he no longer has any concerns and hopes the whole thing can be forgotten. Consider it forgotten, and consider me grateful. Valentín Carboni, who’d been agitating over feeling unfairly treated, has also climbed down, no offers having materialised to tempt him away in the end. Two fewer fires to put out heading into the biggest week of the year.
Act IV: Omorodion’s Timing, and a Farewell to Iain’s European Adventure
And then, right on cue, because this is exactly the sort of season it’s been: Samu Omorodion is injured and will miss the Coppa Italia final against Lazio. Of course he is. The man who scores important goals and picks up important knocks in roughly equal measure has managed to do it again at the single worst possible moment, and he’ll be watching from the stands instead of leading our line at the Olimpico.
Meanwhile, Iain’s European fairytale has finally run its course — and it ran a lot further than mine did. Having somehow got past Inter in the Champions League quarter-final on top of everything else this season, Lazio reached the semi-final, where Liverpool ended the dream: a stunning 5-2 aggregate win capped by a chastening 4-0 beating at Anfield, extra time goals and all, with Mohamed Salah running the show and picking up a 9.3 for his trouble. I happened to be there in person to see it — no better way to spend an evening than watching your rival’s Champions League run finally die in front of you. It’s a genuinely remarkable campaign from Lazio in Europe, further than we managed, and it makes what’s coming next all the sweeter to think about: whatever happened on the continent, none of it counts on the 13th of May. Just us, just them, one trophy.
Next time: the Coppa Italia final. Fiorentina against Lazio, at the Olimpico, for all the marbles.