Winger Joaquin has warned Sevilla not to make the mistake of thinking that Italian teams these days are defensively-minded.
The Spaniard returns to Seville with Fiorentina on Thursday – he began his career there with Real Betis – for the Europa League semi-final first leg against Los Rojiblancos and told how Italian football has undergone a vast change in recent times.
“Italian teams no longer sit back and close up the game. Ten years ago it was like that and some sides, those that don’t have a great deal of technical ability, still have a defensive style.
“However, teams such as Fiorentina, Roma, Juventus, Napoli…none of them play like that anymore because it’s outdated. Juventus can compete at the highest level and have great players and that’s why they are in the Champions League semi-finals and we are in the Europa League semi-finals.
“Football in Italy isn’t easy and we tend to think of it as tactical with solid defending. It’s not at all like the end-to-end football we play in Spain.
“Nonetheless, Fiorentina try to play a modern game by looking after the ball and passing it around intelligently. We are one of the few Italian sides to do that.”
The Spaniard insists he is happy in Florence despite strong rumours linking him with a return to first club Real Betis.
“I’m really enjoying my time there although initially I found it hard to adapt and I was getting less playing time than I am at the moment.
“Right now we are doing well so let’s see if we can get ourselves into the final,” he affirmed.
