Bitter end of the road for Liverani

Inevitable goal
With the UEFA Cup semi-final tie poised at 0-0 after last week's first leg, the Viola were favourites to prevail on home turf to set up a Manchester meeting with FC Zenit St. Petersburg on 14 May. The hosts duly lived up to the billing, dominating from start to finish at a frenetic Stadio Artemio Franchi, yet they were simply unable to put the ball in the back of the net. "Throughout, I was convinced that sooner or later we would score," said Liverani, his thoughts echoed by the majority of the 39,130 crowd. "Then suddenly the final whistle went and somehow it was still 0-0."

Curse
Adrian Mutu, Giampaolo Pazzini and substitute Christian Vieri were particularly guilty of profligacy, though during the penalty shoot-out that followed it was Liverani who saw his weak effort saved by Neil Alexander. Vieri then blazed over the bar, allowing Nacho Novo to secure a 4-2 victory for the visitors, leaving the home side dumbfounded. "I'm very sorry for missing a penalty because our fans were simply fantastic and deserved to reach the final," said the 32-year-old Liverani. "It was just a cursed game for us."

Luck
Fiorentina defender Tomáš Ujfaluši agreed that the Tuscan outfit's failure to win was simply down to fortune. "We deserved to reach the final," said the Czech international. "But in football it is not always the best team that wins. Luck is part of the game and it was not with our side tonight. We were very close to reaching the final and it's a pity we didn't because it would have been a great achievement. We played with great determination and were on the front foot for most of the game but Rangers defended with ten men at times, and rode their luck."