FIORENTINA v AC MILAN: FUN FACTS

Coach Pioli's Rossoneri, formerly of Fiorentina, are preparing for the always tricky away match in Florence with enthusiasm and maximum concentration. At the Franchi, AC Milan will be the visitors of the Viola in the 25th matchday of Serie A, and on the eve of the match, scheduled for Saturday 4 March at 20:45 CET, we present some figures and statistics for Fiorentina v AC Milan:

PREVIOUS FIXTURES
Fiorentina are the team against whom AC Milan have scored the most goals in their Serie A history (259). In addition, the Rossoneri have won 76 of their 165 matches against the Viola in the competition, only against Roma (78) have they won more. Fiorentina have conceded exactly three goals in each of their last two home games against AC Milan in the top flight, and only once have they conceded more than two goals in a row against a single opponent: between 1956 and 1959, again against the Rossoneri. The Diavolo have also won six of the last seven matches against Fiorentina played in the league, with a draw completing the picture. Finally, the Rossoneri have netted for eight consecutive games against the Viola in Serie A and only once have they recorded a longer streak against their opponents: 10 in a row between 1947 and 1951.

RECENT TRENDS
Fiorentina (387) and AC Milan (351) are two of the four teams that have taken the most shots in the current season, and two of the four teams that have recorded the most direct attacks - 64 for the Rossoneri, 45 for the Viola. Furthermore, in this Serie A season, no team has scored more goals following an offensive recovery than AC Milan: five (like Napoli), while Fiorentina are one of only two teams not yet to have found the net from this situation (along with Monza).

BIG WEEKEND FOR IBRA
Fiorentina is, along with Roma, Zlatan Ibrahimović's favourite Serie A opponent (11 goals). With a goal at the weekend, the Swede would also become the oldest goalscorer in the history of the competition (41 years and 152 days), overtaking Alessandro Costacurta (41 years and 25 days, in May 2007). One appearance will be enough, however, and the Rossoneri will become the team with which Zlatan has played the most league games in his career (he is currently at 122, equal with Paris Saint-Germain). Ibrahimović (155) is, moreover, close to equalling Roberto Mancini, Luigi Riva and Filippo Inzaghi (156) - in 21st position - among the players with the most goals scored in the history of Serie A.

CURRENT FORM AND ROSSONERI INDIVIDUALS
In all competitions, AC Milan have won their last four matches without conceding a goal; only four times in its history has the Rossoneri scored five in a row while collecting a clean sheet: in 1964, in 2003, in 2017 and most recently in 2018 under Gennaro Gattuso. Pierre Kalulu is the only AC Milan player to have played in all 33 of the Rossoneri's matches this season; in general, no Serie A defender has been played more times (33 appearances also for Marušić, Danilo and Mancini). Theo Hernández, on the other hand, is the player who has covered the most metres with the ball in this season: an impressive 4079. As for the offensive department, Junior Messias has scored in his last two league appearances and has never scored in more matches in a row.

DRAW-LESS COACHES
The current Rossoneri coach has gone unbeaten in 11 of the 18 matches he has coached against Fiorentina in Serie A (10W, 1D), and in particular he has won four of the last five matches. There has been not a single draw in the last five meetings as coach between Stefano Pioli and Vincenzo Italiano in the top flight: three wins for the Pioli, two for Italiano.

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