1996–97 A.C. Fiorentina season

Associazione Calcio Fiorentina did not manage to repeat its spectacular 1995–96 season, and did not win any trophies the following year. A relatively meagre goalscoring season from superstar Gabriel Batistuta was one of the reasons for the declining performance, which head coach Claudio Ranieri sacked at the end of the season. The highlight of Fiorentina's season was reaching the semi-finals of the Cup Winners' Cup, where it lost to Barcelona 2–0 at the Camp Nou, following a 1–1 draw in Florence.

Fiorentina

1996–97 season
President	Vittorio Cecchi Gori
Manager	Claudio Ranieri
Stadium	Stadio Artemio Franchi
Serie A	9th
Supercoppa Italiana	Winners
Coppa Italia	Round of 16
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	Semi-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Gabriel Batistuta (13) All: Gabriel Batistuta (19)
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Players

Goalkeepers

• Francesco Toldo
• Alessandro Zandonà
• Gianmatteo Mareggini
• Mattia Passarini

Defenders

• Daniele Carnasciali
• Michele Serena
• Lorenzo Amoruso
• Aldo Firicano
• Giulio Falcone
• Vittorio Pusceddu
• Pasquale Padalino
• Daniele Chiarini

Midfielders

• Giovanni Piacentini
• Stefan Schwarz
• Rui Costa
• Danilo Stefani
• Sandro Cois
• Roberto Mirri
• Massimo Orlando
• Emiliano Bigica
• Andrei Kanchelskis
• Mirko Benin

Forwards

• Francesco Baiano
• Gabriel Batistuta
• Luís Oliveira
• Marco Vendrame
• Anselmo Robbiati
• Andrea Mussi

Competitions

Supercoppa Italiana

25 August 1996	Milan	1–2	Fiorentina	Milan
20:30 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Savićević  22'		Batistuta  12', 38'	Stadium: San Siro Attendance: 29,582 Referee: Fiorenzo Treossi

Serie A

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
7	Bologna	34	13	10	11	50	44	+6	49
8	Vicenza	34	12	11	11	43	38	+5	47	Qualification to Cup Winners' Cup
9	Fiorentina	34	10	15	9	46	41	+5	45
10	Atalanta	34	11	11	12	44	46	−2	44
11	Milan	34	11	10	13	43	45	−2	43

Source: Serie A, RSSSF.com, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored; 6) Draw. (Note: Head-to-head record is used only after all the matches between the teams in question have been played).[1]

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
34	10	15	9	46	41	+5	45	9	6	2	28	14	+14	1	9	7	18	27	−9

Last updated: 25 July 2015.
Source: Competitive matches

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34
Ground	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A
Result	L	D	W	L	D	W	W	D	D	D	D	W	L	W	W	D	D	L	D	L	D	L	W	L	W	D	D	W	D	L	L	D	W	D

Source: Competitive matches
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

8 September 1996 1	Fiorentina	2–4	Vicenza	Florence
	Sartor  36' (o.g.) Oliveira  80'	Report	Otero  8', 29', 67', 90' (pen.)	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Referee: Daniele Tombolini

15 September 1996 2	Atalanta	2–2	Fiorentina	Bergamo
	Inzaghi  56' (pen.), 62'	Report	Oliveira  15' Batistuta  81'	Stadium: Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia Referee: Robert Anthony Boggi

22 September 1996 3	Fiorentina	2–0	Hellas Verona	Florence
	Robbiati  6' Batistuta  49' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Referee: Salvatore Racalbuto

29 September 1996 4	Juventus	1–0	Fiorentina	Turin
	Padovano  9'	Report		Stadium: Stadio delle Alpi Referee: Fiorenzo Treossi

12 October 1996 5	Fiorentina	0–0	Lazio	Florence
		Report		Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Referee: Domenico Messina

20 October 1996 6	Bologna	0–2	Fiorentina	Bologna
		Report	Batistuta  44' De Marchi  80' (o.g.)	Stadium: Stadio Renato Dall'Ara Referee: Graziano Cesari

27 October 1996 7	Fiorentina	1–0	Milan	Florence
	Robbiati  84'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Referee: Alfredo Trentalange

3 November 1996 8	Parma	0–0	Fiorentina	Parma
		Report		Stadium: Stadio Ennio Tardini Referee: Stefano Farina

16 November 1996 9	Internazionale	2–2	Fiorentina	Milan
	Ganz  50' Ince  83'	Report	Oliveira  44', 64'	Stadium: San Siro Referee: Livio Bazzoli

24 November 1996 10	Fiorentina	1–1	Piacenza	Florence
	Robbiati  26'	Report	Luiso  64' (pen.)	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Referee: Angelo Bonfrisco

1 December 1996 11	Roma	3–3	Fiorentina	Rome
	Balbo  15' (pen.) Delvecchio  72' Totti  87'	Report	Rui Costa  22' Batistuta  31', 75'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Pierluigi Collina

8 December 1996 12	Fiorentina	4–1	Perugia	Florence
	Batistuta  48' Rui Costa  62' Oliveira  86' Rocco  90' (o.g.)	Report	Gautieri  56'	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Referee: Robert Anthony Boggi

15 December 1996 13	Udinese	2–0	Fiorentina	Udine
	Amoroso  19', 29'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Friuli Referee: Roberto Bettin

22 December 1996 14	Fiorentina	2–0	Cagliari	Florence
	Batistuta  65' Robbiati  82'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Referee: Giancarlo Lana

5 January 1997 15	Fiorentina	3–0	Napoli	Florence
	Colonnese  50' (o.g.) Oliveira  54' Robbiati  90'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Referee: Pierluigi Pairetto

12 January 1997 16	Reggiana	0–0	Fiorentina	Reggio Emilia
		Report		Stadium: Stadio Giglio Referee: Alfredo Trentalange

19 January 1997 17	Fiorentina	1–1	Sampdoria	Florence
	Batistuta  31' (pen.)	Report	Franceschetti  89'	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Referee: Pierluigi Collina

26 January 1997 18	Vicenza	3–2	Fiorentina	Vicenza
	Otero  1' Murgita  37' Ambrosetti  57'	Report	Padalino  22' Batistuta  65'	Stadium: Stadio Romeo Menti Referee: Salvatore Racalbuto

2 February 1997 19	Fiorentina	0–0	Atalanta	Florence
		Report		Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Referee: Gianni Beschin

16 February 1997 20	Hellas Verona	2–1	Fiorentina	Verona
	Falcone  1' (o.g.) Manetti  90'	Report	Batistuta  7'	Stadium: Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi Referee: Cosimo Bolognino

23 February 1997 21	Fiorentina	1–1	Juventus	Florence
	Robbiati  90'	Report	Del Piero  15'	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Referee: Livio Bazzoli

1 March 1997 22	Lazio	1–0	Fiorentina	Rome
	Negro  90'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Referee: Gennaro Borriello

9 March 1997 23	Fiorentina	3–2	Bologna	Florence
	Baiano  19' (pen.) Batistuta  61' Robbiati  79'	Report	Andersson  2' Firicano  25' (o.g.)	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Referee: Pasquale Rodomonti

15 March 1997 24	Milan	2–0	Fiorentina	Milan
	Desailly  62' Albertini  90' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: San Siro Referee: Robert Anthony Boggi

23 March 1997 25	Fiorentina	1–0	Parma	Florence
	Thuram  34' (o.g.)	Report		Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Referee: Domenico Messina

5 April 1997 26	Fiorentina	0–0	Internazionale	Florence
		Report		Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Referee: Graziano Cesari

13 April 1997 27	Piacenza	1–1	Fiorentina	Piacenza
	Luiso  66'	Report	Amoruso  56'	Stadium: Stadio Leonardo Garilli Referee: Gianni Beschin

19 April 1997 28	Fiorentina	2–1	Roma	Florence
	Robbiati  7' Petruzzi  36' (o.g.)	Report	Balbo  77'	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Referee: Stefano Farina

4 May 1997 29	Perugia	1–1	Fiorentina	Perugia
	Pizzi  89' (pen.)	Report	Robbiati  90'	Stadium: Stadio Renato Curi Referee: Pierluigi Pairetto

11 May 1997 30	Fiorentina	2–3	Udinese	Florence
	Padalino  5' Baiano  21'	Report	Amoroso  2', 60' (pen.) Pierini  82'	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Referee: Gennaro Borriello

15 May 1997 31	Cagliari	4–1	Fiorentina	Cagliari
	Muzzi  14' Darío Silva  35' Lønstrup  37', 45'	Report	Oliveira  34'	Stadium: Stadio Sant'Elia Referee: Domenico Messina

18 May 1997 32	Napoli	2–2	Fiorentina	Naples
	Aglietti  67' Esposito  83'	Report	Oliveira  8', 40'	Stadium: Stadio San Paolo Referee: Roberto Bettin

25 May 1997 33	Fiorentina	3–0	Reggiana	Florence
	Batistuta  7', 62' Robbiati  18'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Referee: Pierangelo Pin

1 June 1997 34	Sampdoria	1–1	Fiorentina	Genoa
	Montella  37'	Report	Robbiati  23'	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Referee: Lorenzo Branzoni

Coppa Italia

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

First round

12 September 1996 First leg	Gloria Bistriţa	1–1	Fiorentina	Bistrița, Romania
	Lazăr  3'		Batistuta  47'	Stadium: Stadionul Gloria Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Christer Fällström (Sweden)

26 September 1996 Second leg	Fiorentina	1–0 (2–1 agg.)	Gloria Bistriţa	Florence, Italy
	Orlando  22'			Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 18,607 Referee: Ladislav Gádoši (Slovakia)

Second round

17 October 1996 First leg	Fiorentina	2–1	Sparta Prague	Florence, Italy
	Batistuta  5' Schwarz  56'		Siegl  80'	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 22,400 Referee: Serge Muhmenthaler (Switzerland)

31 October 1996 Second leg	Sparta Prague	1–1 (2–3 agg.)	Fiorentina	Prague, Czech Republic
	Lokvenc  4'		Robbiati  63'	Stadium: Stadion Letná Attendance: 16,021 Referee: David Elleray (England)

Quarter-finals

6 March 1997 First leg	Benfica	0–2	Fiorentina	Lisbon, Portugal
			Baiano  45' Batistuta  90'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Hellmut Krug (Germany)

20 March 1997 Second leg	Fiorentina	0–1 (2–1 agg.)	Benfica	Florence, Italy
			Edgar  22'	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 35,071 Referee: Mario van der Ende (Netherlands)

Semi-finals

10 April 1997 First leg	Barcelona	1–1	Fiorentina	Barcelona, Spain
	Nadal  42'		Batistuta  62'	Stadium: Camp Nou Attendance: 105,000 Referee: Bernd Heynemann (Germany)

24 April 1997 Second leg	Fiorentina	0–2 (1–3 agg.)	Barcelona	Florence, Italy
			Couto  30' Guardiola  35'	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 45,000 Referee: Anders Frisk (Sweden)

Statistics

Goalscorers

• Gabriel Batistuta 13 (2)
• Anselmo Robbiati 12
• Luís Oliveira 9

References

1. Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005 "Norme organizzative interne della F.I.G.C. - Art. 51.6" (PDF) (in Italian). Italian Football Federation. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.