Alberto Aquilani

Former Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani has branded the pitch at Sampdoria as one of the worst he has ever played on.

The former Italian international recently took to the field with his Fiorentina teammates for the match against Sampdoria. Fiorentina are once again having top three ambitions this season. They have done well under Vincenzo Montella and are currently in the top 10 of the table. However, their Champions League ambitions suffered a huge blow after a 3-1 defeat. The defeat means that they are in the bottom half of the table with only one win in the last five.

Fiorentina sealed their first victory of the season in the Serie A after defeating Atalanta with a narrow score of 1-0. This triumph came at a cost for Fiorentina as Mario Gomez picked up an injury that will be leaving him out of action for around 3 weeks according to the medical staff of the Italian club.

A statement from the official website of Fiorentina stated: "ACF Fiorentina can confirm that in the closing stages of the Atalanta v Fiorentina match, Mario Gomez sustained a grade one injury to the myotendinous junction of the flexor tendons in his right thigh. Gomez has already started treatment on the injury, and will undergo more tests in 10 days. He is expected to return to full fitness within three weeks."

Former Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani is reportedly on the verge of agreeing a new contract with Fiorentina. The Italian international has been at Fiorentina since 2012 after moving on a permanent basis for around € 800,000. The 30-year-old had once cost Liverpool an astonishing £ 20 million, but poor form and a number of injuries in the last few years have reduced his transfer value substantially. There have also been reports that he was looking for a move away from European football with MLS club New York City FC showing interest.

The manager of the Russia national football team, Fabio Capello, will have to provide an explanation to the nation’s parliament for the team’s poor outing in the World Cup in Brazil.

Russia got knocked out from the group stage of the tournament despite being placed in not so tough group.

Out of the three matches that Russia played in Brazil, they lost one, while, drew two and thus, just had a couple of points when the group round ended. That was not enough to see them through to the pre quarter finals.

According to the contract that Capello has with the Russian football Association, he will be at his post for 4 more years i.e. till the next World Cup.

The manager of the Russia national football team, Fabio Capello, will have to provide an explanation to the nation’s parliament for the team’s poor outing in the World Cup in Brazil.

Russia got knocked out from the group stage of the tournament despite being placed in not so tough group.

Out of the three matches that Russia played in Brazil, they lost one, while, drew two and thus, just had a couple of points when the group round ended. That was not enough to see them through to the pre quarter finals.

According to the contract that Capello has with the Russian football Association, he will be at his post for 4 more years i.e. till the next World Cup.

Italian club Fiorentina are planning contract talks with Italian international midfielder Alberto Aquilani as soon as he returns to the country after his duties with the Italian national team from the World Cup in Brazil.

The Viola is expected to sit down for contract talks with several of their players but the position with the Italian international is very precarious. They have already had positive contract talks regarding a straight forward extension with the likes of Borja Valero as well as Gonzalo Rodriguez and are also expected to go straight into negotiations with Peruvian midfielder David Pizzarro, whom they are very optimistic about holding on to.

Now that all the major leagues in Europe have concluded, some players are reaching the end of their respective contracts and this starts to create rumors on whether or not they will continue remaining in the club they are right now or be transferred somewhere else.

In some way or another this is the case with Alberto Aquilani, a 29 year old midfielder who has vast experience playing in top clubs such as Juventus, As.Roma and Ac.Milan. Aquilani still has 1 year remaining on his contract with Fiorentina and even though there have not been talks concerning an extension with the Italian club, his agent is confident that he will remain wearing the Fiorentina the years to come.

After just one win in the last four matches, Fiorentina have allowed third placed Napoli to open a 10 point advantage in the table. This will be extremely difficult to match in the rest of the season.

Hence, the opportunity to finish in the top three and qualify for the Champions League group stages next season has evaporated for Vincenzo Montella’s men. However, the Italian has said that the opportunity to win the Europa league still exists. Fiorentina will be taking on Juventus in the second leg of the Europa league last 16.

Fiorentina overcame Udinese in the semifinals of the Coppa Italia and now they have to face off against Napoli for the final match of the Italian tournament. Napoli is favorites on winning the competition as they have been a fairly more consistent team than the one guided by Vincenzo Montella.

Napoli have proven themselves to be serious contenders for the Italian league title not only in the current campaign but for the recent few ones as they persistently finish the season on the top few spots.

Alberto Aquilani has said that he wants to represent his country Italy in the next FIFA World Cup which will be played this year in Brazil.

The 29 years Old playmaker who is currently playing for Fiorentina in the Italian top flight has never featured in a World Cup. He was in contention to find a place in the Italian squad for the last World Cup, but, he got ignored eventually. That might happen again as his recent form hasn’t been top class.