Montella lauds Fiorentina´s spirit

Vincenzo Montella was pleased with Fiorentina’s spirit as the Italian side eased past 10-man Guingamp on Thursday.

Goals from Juan Vargas, Juan Cuadrado and Filippo Bernardeschi saw Fiorentina to a 3-0 win in their UEFA Europa League Group K opener at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

New recruits Ciprian Tatarusanu, Jose Maria Basanta, Jasmin Kurtic, Micah Richards and Milan Badelj all featured in Florence and all produced impressive performances.

“I liked the team spirit as we sought the victory throughout the game and the players were able to manage the game well,” Montella said post-game.

“All the players demonstrated the qualities that we saw while signing them.

“We are well placed considering many players arrived in the last hour of the market.”

Montella leapt to the defence of star striker Mario Gomez, who was kept goalless again.

The Germany international, whose time in Florence has been hampered by injuries, has not scored a competitive goal this season, however, Montella hit back at Gomez’s critics.

“He has made a good start to the season but it will get difficult to justify him not getting on the score sheet with every passing game despite the fact that he has had to sacrifice a lot,” the Italian said.

“We had worked in training on our crossing game not just for Gomez but for everyone and it adds another dimension to our game.”

Montella also confirmed Spanish midfielder Borja Valero – replaced at half-time – suffered a muscle injury in the resounding victory.