Getty Josip Ilicic and Atalanta will host Fiorentina.
Atalanta will host Fiorentina at the Atleti Azzurri d’Italia for the second leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final on Thursday.
For those in the United States looking to watch, the match is scheduled to start at 2:45 p.m. ET. It won’t televised anywhere in the US, but you can watch a live stream of the game on ESPN+, the digital streaming service from ESPN that includes a bunch of other different live sports, all the 30-for-30 documentaries and other original content.
You can start a free trial of ESPN+ right here, and you can then watch Atalanta vs Fiorentina on your computer via ESPN.com, or on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or other streaming device via the ESPN app.
Atalanta vs Fiorentina 2nd Leg Preview
These sides played to a 3-3 draw in the first leg at the Stadio Artemio Franchi on February 27.
Atalanta haven’t lost since, amassing five wins and three draws, all in Serie A play. They’re now tied with AC Milan for the fourth and final Champions League spot with 56 points through 33 contests.
The Nerazzurri most recently mounted a second-half comeback against second-place Napoli, getting goals from Duvan Zapata and Mario Pasalic in the 69th and 80th minutes in a 2-1 victory.
“I really didn’t expect us to be this high up the table,” Atalanta defender Andrea Masiello said, according to Football Italia. “We just told ourselves at the start of the season that we’d always play to win. We really believe in the Champions League, but want to go all the way in the Coppa Italia too.”
Both goals came after midfielder Josip Ilicic entered for Remo Freuler in the 54th minute. Playing through a knee injury, the Slovenian took three shots and won two free kicks, one of which set up Pasalic’s strike.
“The important thing is that we won to stay right up there and we’ll give our best,” Ilicic said, according to Football Italia. “It’s good in a way that we started the season badly, because we had time to make up for it and now we want to keep that momentum going to the end.
“We’re in the Coppa Italia semi-final too and as we’re at that stage, we want to win it all. We’re giving nothing up. We know the sides challenging for a Champions League spot are very strong, but we want to be there too.
“For now, we’ll focus on Fiorentina, as that’ll be a battle just like today.”
Fiorentina defender Nikola Milenkovic told La Gazzetta dello Sport that he watched the Napoli–Atalanta match on television, according to CalcioMercato.com.
“Atalanta have many players who can take decisive action on an individual level,” Milenkovic said. “But their successes build them through the sacrifice of the whole team. Gasperini’s team puts an intensity on the field that prevents you from thinking.
“Ilicic? I don’t know him personally, but in the locker room they all talked about him a lot. Now that I’ve seen him play, I understand why. Ilicic has a formidable game vision. He ‘sees’ the right passage before the others.”
Fiorentina are tied for 10th in Serie A with 40 points. They haven’t won since besting SPAL 2-1 on February 17, a span of 10 matches.
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