Serie A champions Juventus host Fiorentina on Wednesday with more than three points at stake from a thoroughly modern Italian derby.
Here is a look at why such bitterness exists between clubs who are 250 miles apart.
Fiorentina put a dent in Juventus’ title charge with a long-awaited win at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in last season’s meeting between the two rivals in January. Nikola Kalinic and Federico Chiesa fired Fiorentina in front with goals in either half and, although Gonzalo Higuain got Juve back into it, Massimiliano Allegri’s side could not find an equaliser.
However, despite La Viola, who had not beaten Juve in Serie A since October 2013, finally earning some bragging rights, it was the men from Turin who went on to deliver yet another Scudetto, their 33rd title. Fiorentina, meanwhile, ended in eighth and Paulo Sousa was replaced as head coach by Stefano Pioli.
Nikola Kalinic, now at AC Milan, led Fiorentina to victory over Juventus last season.
On the final day of the 1981-82 campaign Fiorentina were level on points with Juventus heading into their respective matches against Cagliari and Catanzaro. While La Viola had a seemingly legitimate effort disallowed in their goalless draw in Sardinia, Irish midfielder Liam Brady scored a penalty against Catanzaro to seal a 1-0 win – and the Scudetto – for the Old Lady.
At the time, Fiorentina fans were heard saying: ”Meglio secondi che ladri.” Better to be second than to be thieves.
Liam Brady’s final-day goal for Juventus snatched the 1982 Scudetto out of Fiorentina’s grasp.
The two clubs managed to co-exist relatively peacefully for the rest of the decade. Fiorentina were too busy enjoying the goals and guile of Italy striker Roberto Baggio, who saved the Tuscans from relegation before leading them to a UEFA Cup final. His 43 goals in two seasons, coupled with financial concerns, meant the ‘Divine Ponytail’ had to be sold – to anyone apart from Juve of course.
But to the horror of the Viola fans he did move to Turin for £8million, causing riots to break out in the streets of Florence.
Roberto Baggio’s move from Fiorentina to Juventus led to riots in Florence.
When Fiorentina went bust in 2002 they had no choice but to reform and start again in the fourth tier, with the Della Valle family taking the reins of a new club boasting only one high-profile player, Angelo Di Livio. There was enmity later, when Juve were spared from a similar fate despite their heavy involvement in the ‘Calciopoli’ scandal, which had seen several officials attempt to influence referee appointments.
The Bianconeri were placed in Serie B and won an immediate promotion painlessly.
Fiorentina felt the punishment given to Juventus for the calciopoli scandal was too lenient.
In 2012, Dimitar Berbatov was looking for a way out of Manchester United after his goals dried up at Old Trafford. Fiorentina were quick to act, buying plane tickets for the Bulgarian after getting permission to talk to him and, as the news spread, hundreds of fans gathered at the airport.
Except the striker never arrived.
Juve had intervened to offer higher wages, eliciting a furious club statement from Fiorentina, with the whole event simply creating more animosity as he ultimately joined Fulham.
Dimitar Berbatov caused a transfer tug-of-war between Fiorentina and Juventus in 2012.
Paul Pogba and Carlos Tevez were left red-faced after celebrating first-half goals with the machine-gun salute of Fiorentina favourite Gabriel Batistuta in October 2013 as the Tuscans fought back to win. Before last season, it remained the only previous Viola victory in Serie A although Fiorentina did enjoy a 2-1 Coppa Italia semi-final first-leg win at the Juventus Stadium in March 2015.
After their narrow league triumph one year earlier, Juve tweeted that Fiorentina were nice to have “for lunch”.
Paul Pogba infuriated Fiorentina fans by copying Viola legend Gabriel Batistuta’s celebration.
