30 ‘ Milenkovic is the next to crash into Martinez, leaving the Argentinian clutching his leg again in agony. When the attacker gets back to his feet, Perisic dances back and forth before sending a cross into Terracciano’s hands.
28 ‘ TO CLOSE! Young sends a weak, inviting delivery through the six-yard box and Martinez looks ready for a tap-in, however, Caceres and Terracciano somehow combine to strike the chance for a corner kick for the hosts.
27 ‘ Bonaventura is extremely late in his tackle with Martinez and, long after the ball has been played, catches the Inter striker’s shin. Referee Massa deems it sufficient to give Bonaventura the second warning of the match.
25 ‘ Prandelli’s side have kept a clean sheet in three of their last four games, including one against defending Serie A champions Juventus.
24 ‘ The visitors manage Fiorentina’s second corner comfortably, as Young dodges the danger with a hook clearance to the left. Martinez chases the lost ball but Amrabat is there again, fulfilling his defensive functions and playing backwards on Terracciano.
22 ‘ Kouame was forced to the ground by Kolarov’s challenge and the hosts demanded a penalty. Referee Massa sees it differently and agrees with Conte’s men as he instead chooses to award a goal kick, which Handanovic throws onto the pitch.
21 ‘ Martinez seems to have escaped the attentions of the Viola midfielder, only for Amrabat to intercept him. However, the visitors regain possession and descend to the other end, where Terracciano is then forced to parry Young’s low cross towards the nearest post.
20 ‘ In their last eight games in the round of 16 at Coppa Italia, the hosts have improved seven times. In the past 17 seasons, the Nerazzurri have only managed to qualify for the quarter-finals once (in 2013/14 after a 1-0 loss to Udinese).
18 ‘ Eriksen tries to play the decisive ball but Biraghi steps inside to intervene, with Young ready to pounce behind him. Conte’s men then profit from an extended possession spell, which ends when Vidal commits an unnecessary foul on Biraghi on the left side.
16 ‘ The hosts’ first corner of the game bounces all over the place before Sanchez takes control of the situation, lowering the ball and advancing to the right side, where Vidal then loses to Julio. After a quick ball change, play is resumed with a viola throw-in.
14 ‘ Ranocchia sends a goalless pass forward, which reverberates right down to Terracciano’s feet. The hosts then looked to work on the right side, but the movement lacked quality, allowing Inter to intercept and regain possession via Kolarov.
12 ‘ Eysseric has to be careful here, he’s already entered the book and he just slammed Gagliardini with a high foot near the center line. Luckily for the hosts, the referee gives the Fiorentina man the benefit of the doubt and simply grants the visitors a free kick, with no further punishment for the striker.
11 ‘ LUCK! Vidal slides Martinez into the zone and the Argentinian looks to unleash a low effort with his right foot before Castrovilli comes out of nowhere to produce a magnificent block, turning the chance for a corner kick for the visitors.
ten’ Milenkovic takes advantage of a rare adventure forward and marks the occasion with a savage right-footed shot from the right of the box, which runs well through Handanovic’s goal to the left.
8 ft Eriksen rushes to the edge of the area, where his right foot effort is blocked by Julio’s chest. The movement crumbles as Gagliardini manipulates the ball as he tries to recycle possession.
6 ft Martinez intercepts in the middle of the park and looks to break before Eysseric hacked the striker’s ankles, which deservedly earned him the first yellow card of the game.
4 ft The two forward Martinez and Sanchez are looking to connect inside Viola’s area, however, the latter is taken offside, giving possession back to the hosts.
3 ‘ A chance fell at Martinez’s feet inside the D but the Argentine failed to control the ball and the opportunity slipped to the visitors.
2 ‘ Early signs are that the visitors are playing a three-way defense as well, with Kolarov as the third center-back, while Perisic and Young occupy the full-back roles.
1 ′ Referee Davide Massa blows his whistle to start this Serie A match!
The players are making their way onto the pitch and soon it will be time to kick off.
Inter are undefeated in their last eight games against Fiorentina in all competitions (W4, D4): Viola’s last victory against the Nerazzurri came in April 2017, when they missed 5-4 winners in Serie A .
Conte returns to a four-man defense and makes seven changes from their game against Roma. The only four remaining in the starting XI are Handanovic, Skriniar, Vidal and Martinez, who will be supported by the trio of Sanchez, Perisic and Eriksen here.
Cesare Prandelli has made six changes since the hosts’ victory over Cagliari. The Terracciano Cup goalkeeper enters and Quarta replaces the injured Pezzella at the back. Eysseric supports Kouame at the top, Patrick Cutrone having returned to Wolves after his loan.
SUBS: Achraf Hakimi, Marcelo Brozovic, Alessandro Bastoni, Romelu Lukaku, Stefan de Vrij, Nicola Barella, Daniele Padelli, Ionut Radu, Stefano Sensi.
INTER (4-2-3-1): Samir Handanovic; Ashley Young; Milan Skriniar, Andrea Ranocchia, Aleksandsar Kolarov; Roberto Gagliardini, Arturo Vidal; Christian Eriksen, Ivan Perisic, Alexis Sanchez; Lautaro Martinez.
SUBS: Antonio Barreca, Lorenzo Venuti, Joseph Alfred Duncan, Borja Valero, Dusan Vlahovic, Jose Callejon, Christian Dalle Mura, Dimo Krastev, German Pezzella, Tofol Montiel, Barlomiej Dragowski, Federico Brancolini.
FIORENTINA (3-5-2): Pietro Terracciano; Nikola Milenkovic, Igor Julio, Lucas Martinez Quarta; Cristiano Biraghi, Martin Caceres, Giacomo Bonaventura, Gaetano Castrovilli, Sofyan Amrabat; Christian Kouame, Valentin Eysseric.
After crashing outside Europe, Antonio Conte can see Coppa Italia as a perfect opportunity to earn his first silverware at Inter. The visitors, who are second in Serie A, drew with Roma, while Fiorentina beat Cagliari 1-0.
Hello and welcome to the live broadcast of the Coppa Italia round of 16 match between Fiorentina and Inter.
G. Bonaventura
Yellow card