Fiorentina hoping a coaching change will bring it luck in Serie A

MILAN (AP) — Fiorentina hopes a new coach also brings it luck this weekend after becoming the third Serie A team in just over a week to make a managerial change.

When Patrick Vieira was fired last week, new coach Roberto Murgita steered Genoa to its first win of the season on Monday.

Two days after his appointment, Luciano Spalletti led Juventus to a 2-1 win over Cremonese last weekend.

Fiorentina fired Stefano Pioli on Tuesday with the Viola winless through 10 rounds and at the bottom of Serie A. Former Roma captain and coach Daniele De Rossi was appointed on Thursday but he’s suspended from Sunday’s game because he was sent off in his last match in charge of Roma a year ago.

Instead, interim coach Daniele Galloppa will manage Fiorentina at Genoa.

Key matchups

Three of the four Serie A front-runners face tricky encounters.

League leader Napoli travels to Bologna, which hasn’t lost a match in nearly two months and sits three points below the top four.

The two Milan clubs and Roma are all just below the defending champion. Roma hosts Udinese on Sunday, shortly after Napoli’s match and just before Inter Milan plays Lazio at San Siro.

AC Milan could already be on top by then as it has what appears to be an easier game at lowly Parma on Saturday. Parma is just a point above the relegation zone.

Juventus hosts Torino in a derby match on Saturday.

Players to watch

Rafael Leão is showing the kind of form that saw him named Serie A MVP four seasons ago. Leão recovered from missing the opening month of the season with a calf injury and scored in AC Milan’s 1-0 win over Roma on Sunday to take his tally to three goals and an assist in his last four matches.

Jamie Vardy has two goals in his past three matches for Cremonese.

Key Inter forward Marcus Thuram should return to Serie A after more than a month out with a hamstring injury. Thuram went on as a 71st-minute substitute in Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Kairat in the Champions League.

United States international Christian Pulisic has returned to training following his hamstring injury and could feature for AC Milan against Parma, likely as a second-half substitute.

Out of action

Milan remains without injured midfielder Adrien Rabiot but could welcome back forward Santiago Giménez after an ankle injury.

The often-injured Roma playmaker Paulo Dybala will be sidelined for around three weeks after pulling a hamstring when taking a penalty — and missing — against Milan.

Apart from long-term injury absentees Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, Napoli is sweating on the fitness of Leonardo Spinazzola and Billy Gilmour after they went off injured in last weekend’s goalless draw against Como.

Bologna is without Remo Freuler for around two months after the midfielder broke his collarbone during the win at Parma.

Off the field

AC Milan and Inter Milan completed their purchase of San Siro and the surrounding area from the city on Wednesday — clearing the way for the clubs to tear down the 99-year-old stadium and jointly build a new 71,500-seat arena.

The idea is to have a new stadium ready for when Italy co-hosts the 2032 European Championship with Turkey.

Verona also announced this week that it has initiated the process to build a new stadium on the site of its current arena, adding that it hopes to be in the running to host Euro 2032, “an event the club sees as an important opportunity for Verona and Italy.”

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