Sampdoria boss Vincenzo Montella feels Fiorentina “should’ve shown me more respect, but there is no rancour.”
They meet again at the Stadio Franchi on Sunday at 14.00 UK time (13.00 GMT), click here for a match preview.
“We need points, so there is little time to waste on being romantic,” Montella told Sky Sport Italia when asked if he felt emotional at being back here.
Sampdoria boss Vincenzo Montella feels Fiorentina “should’ve shown me more respect, but there is no rancour.”
They meet again at the Stadio Franchi on Sunday at 14.00 UK time (13.00 GMT), click here for a match preview.
“We need points, so there is little time to waste on being romantic,” Montella told Sky Sport Italia when asked if he felt emotional at being back here.
“The Fiorentina fans supported me a great deal over the years, so I expect a civilised welcome tomorrow.
“I laid the foundations at Fiorentina and Paulo Sousa put some of his ideas on top, seeing as our approach and principles of football are more or less the same. We’ll be facing a very strong side.”
Montella’s departure was somewhat tense, as he accused the club of not keeping its promises on the transfer market.
“I am someone who likes to say what I think and I said certain things because I am sure Fiorentina should’ve showed me more respect.
“In any case, tomorrow there will be no rancour and I will be a little emotional. We need to get points, so the opponents are somewhat irrelevant in that sense.
“I have wonderful memories of Florence and the team improved a great deal during my tenure. Who would I take away from their squad? There are many, but I’ll say Josip Ilicic and Borja Valero.”
Sampdoria will be without Edgar Barreto, who is suffering from a knee injury, Carlos Carbonero, Pedro Pereira and Angelo Palombo.
Sampdoria squad for Fiorentina: Brignoli, Puggioni, Viviano; Cassani, De Silvestri, Diakité, Dodô, Moisander, Ranocchia, Silvestre, Skriniar; Alvarez, Christodoulopoulos, Correa, Fernando, Ivan, Krsticic, Sala, Soriano; Cassano, Muriel, Rodriguez, Quagliarella