Soccer-Pioli returns to take charge of Fiorentina on three-year deal
(Reuters) -Fiorentina announced Stefano Pioli as their new coach on a three-year deal on Saturday as the Italian, who left Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr last month, returns to the Serie A club for a second stint.
Fiorentina had given former manager Raffaele Palladino a contract extension in May but he left the job just three weeks later, paving the way for Pioli to return after he parted ways with Al-Nassr.
Pioli, who played at Fiorentina from 1989 to 1995, coached the team from 2017 to 2019. He then coached AC Milan, winning the Scudetto in the 2021-22 season, before his move to the Saudi Pro League.
"I am very happy that Stefano Pioli is the new coach of Fiorentina's first team," club president Rocco Commisso said in a statement.
"From the very first moment I spoke to him, I found a coach with great human values who is ready to do everything he can for this club and this city, which he knows very well and has a close bond with."
Fiorentina finished sixth in Serie A last season to qualify for the Conference League, Europe's third-tier competition.
Serie A has seen several clubs changing their managers prior to the 2025-26 season, including Inter Milan, AC Milan, AS Roma, Atalanta and Lazio.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
18 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Norris completes Hungarian practice double as McLaren dominate
BUDAPEST, (Hungary): Lando Norris completed a Hungarian Grand Prix practice double on Friday as runaway leaders McLaren dominated both sessions while leaving something in reserve and almost colliding at the end. Norris was top of the timesheets in both sessions at the Hungaroring outside Budapest, with Formula One leader Oscar Piastri second and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc emerging as McLaren's closest rival. The Briton was 0.019 of a second faster than teammate Piastri, who has a 16 point lead after 13 of 24 races, in first practice and 0.291 quicker in the late afternoon when he set a best lap of one minute 15.624 seconds. "The car felt good from the first couple of laps," said Norris, who took pole position last year but then lost out to first time winner Piastri. "I've got a good feel for what we need from the car, so we'll work on that overnight and make sure we're in the best possible position going into qualifying tomorrow." At the end of the session, with the chequered flag already waved, Norris locked up coming out of the pits for a practice start as Piastri, winner in Belgium last weekend, went around the outside at turn one. Leclerc was third fastest in both sessions, with Racing Bulls' French rookie Isack Hadjar fourth in the opening one but Aston Martin coming on strong in the second with Lance Stroll fourth and Fernando Alonso fifth. "McLaren seem to be quite a bit ahead of us but we will stay focused on ourselves and try to turn things around tomorrow," said Leclerc. Double world champion Alonso had missed practice one due to back pain, with Brazilian reserve Felipe Drugovich standing in for him. Lewis Hamilton, winner a record eight times in Hungary with McLaren and Mercedes, was fifth and sixth on his return with Ferrari. "I'm still chasing grip, but we're heading in a positive direction. There's definitely more to extract ahead of qualifying," said the Briton. Mercedes's form looked more encouraging than at the last race in Belgium, with George Russell ending the day seventh, after earlier complaining about his car's balance, and Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli 10th. Red Bull's reigning champion Max Verstappen was ninth and 14th respectively in the sessions, with Japanese teammate Yuki Tsunoda 17th and ninth. "I don't know what's going on. It's just undriveable, I can't get any balance," said Verstappen over the team radio at one point in the late afternoon. Verstappen was summoned to the stewards for a bizarre incident in which the four-times world champion threw a towel out of the car's cockpit while on track at turn three. Red Bull were later reprimanded. Estonian Paul Aron took Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber for the opening session and was last after having to stop before the midpoint of the session due to a technical problem. Hulkenberg was 12th on his return.
The Star
a day ago
- The Star
Motor racing-McLaren's progress faster than Ferrari in Schumacher era -Stella
Formula One F1 - Hungarian Grand Prix - Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary - August 1, 2025 McLaren's Oscar Piastri in the pit lane during practice REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo BUDAPEST (Reuters) -McLaren's rate of progress may be faster than Ferrari during their golden era with German Formula One great Michael Schumacher, team boss Andrea Stella said on Friday. The Italian worked at Maranello with seven-times champion Schumacher as an engineer during that period but told reporters at the Hungarian Grand Prix that he had been surprised by McLaren's growth. The Woking-based team won the constructors's title last season and are running away with both championships this year with Australian Oscar Piastri and Britain's Lando Norris fighting for the drivers crown. McLaren have won 10 of 13 races so far and are a mighty 268 points clear of second second-placed Ferrari in the team standings. In 2023 they were fourth overall and in 2022 fifth. "It's always difficult to compare across seasons," said Stella, who joined McLaren from Ferrari in 2015. "In this case, we are comparing across teams, and even myself, I was in a very different role, so my field of view, my perspective was very different. "But if I had to pick a couple of features of the journey that is happening here at McLaren, I would say the rate of progress that we have had in a couple of years is in itself pretty unique. "And possibly the rate of progress itself was even faster than what we experienced at Ferrari in the very competitive times." Schumacher won five titles in a row between 2000-2004, with the last one a particularly dominant season and Ferrari winning 15 of 18 races. Stella said McLaren had set out an ambitious programme when deciding how much effort to put into developing their car this season, with a new engine era coming in 2026 that could shake up the pecking order. "We wanted to try and clear the 'going into race weekends and you never know who's going to win' situation we had last year, and we thought we needed to do a little bit more than the normal development," he said. "We embraced a very aggressive approach to innovation. The MCL39 is a very innovative car." Stella said it had also been upgraded considerably since the start of the season. Piastri and Norris have called the title battle a two-horse race, with the Australian 16 points ahead of his teammate but a massive 81 clear of Red Bull's Max Verstappen in third place, but Stella disagreed. "Definitely not. I only agree with mathematics. So once mathematics tells us that's the case, then I'll change my answer," he said. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Christian Radnedge)
Free Malaysia Today
a day ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Italian striker Retegui joins Al-Qadsiah from Atalanta
Mateo Retegui scored 25 league goals to help Atalanta to a third-place finish in Serie A last season. (EPA Images pic) RIYADH : Italian striker Mateo Retegui has joined Saudi Pro League side Al-Qadsiah from Atalanta, both clubs said on Monday, with Italian media reports saying last season's Serie A top scorer has signed a four-year contract. No financial details were released, but Italian media said that the fee paid is in the region of €65 million (US$76.01 million) which would make Retegui the most expensive Italian player. Retegui spent just one season at Atalanta, signing from Genoa as a replacement for the injured Gianluca Scamacca, and went on to score 25 league goals to help the club to a third-place finish. 'The Percassi family, the Pagliuca family and the entire Nerazzurri club sincerely thank Mateo for the extraordinary contribution he made last season and wish him the best for the continuation of his sporting career and for his future,' the club said in a statement. The Argentine-born Retegui qualified to play for Italy through his grandparents and was called up by Roberto Mancini in 2023, scoring on his debut in a 2-1 defeat by England. The 26-year-old has six international goals in 20 appearances. Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left the Saudi club on Thursday, having scored 21 goals in 36 matches in all competitions in his one season at Al-Qadsiah.
