Futsal Champions League: historic Fiorentino come back from two down to draw with AEL Limassol

After Tre Fiori in 2016 and 2017, Fiorentino Futsal have also claimed their first European points thanks to last night’s superb performance against AEL Limassol in their second match of the UEFA Futsal Champions League preliminary round. Matteo Michelotti’s side produced an incredible display on the court of the Spyros Kyprianou Arena in Limassol: a goalless first half, the Cypriots racing into a two-goal lead, before Ercolani from the spot and Busignani completed the comeback to seal a historic 2-2 draw. As expected, the hosts started strongly, driven on by a noisy crowd whose banners, drums and chants – throughout the match – created a fiery atmosphere inside the Cypriot arena. The most dangerous man was Brazilian Rafael "Batata" Schlemper, scorer of a hat-trick in their opener against the Armenians, who repeatedly tried his luck with powerful efforts, but Protti and his team-mates stood firm. Chadjigeorgiou also threatened, only for Protti to divert brilliantly with a superb reaction save. Fiorentino were no bystanders and, in the seventh minute, Rossini was brought down on the left flank right on the edge of the area: Busignani went for goal directly from the free-kick, the defence blocked and on the rebound the rossoblù striker again unleashed a shot from distance but failed to hit the target. Later on, after a challenge, Zafferani crashed his head violently on the court and the young Sammarinese lay on the floor for a few moments after the blow to his face. He went off, but would prove decisive in the second half. Michelotti’s men were virtually flawless in defence and midway through the half it was still 0-0. Shortly after the halfway mark AEL threatened again, once more through Chadjigeorgiou, but Protti again said no. Fearless, Fiorentino even went close to a breakthrough through Ercolani, who struck well from distance with the ball only narrowly off target. AEL kept pushing and came extremely close to taking the lead with Batata: the Brazilian found himself one-on-one with Protti but was once again denied by the rossoblù goalkeeper, who pulled off yet another outstanding save. The national team keeper was again in the spotlight moments later, parrying Fabricio Lima’s thunderbolt behind for a corner. The home side never let up in their search for the opener: another diagonal effort, this time from Krekos, fizzed just past the far post. The first defensive mistake came from Moretti less than two minutes from the break as he lost a very dangerous ball in the penalty area. Batata pounced like a hawk, immediately squaring for Chadjigeorgiou who, from point-blank range, squandered a gilt-edged chance to put AEL in front. Seconds before the interval, Batata produced a piece of showboating in front of the Fiorentino bench, beating two men before squaring for Chadjigeorgiou, who in turn picked out Lima in the area, but even then the goal failed to arrive. The sides thus went into the break with an excellent 0-0 for Michelotti’s team. At the start of the second half the pattern – and the noise in the stands – did not change: AEL Limassol continued to press but Protti and his team-mates repelled wave after wave of attacks. After almost three minutes, however, the hosts finally broke through thanks to crowd favourite Batata, who played a one-two with team-mate Lima and beat Protti with a delicate finish. Despite taking the lead, the Cypriots coached by Charalambous did not ease off and soon doubled their advantage through Fabricio Lima, who exchanged passes with Chadjigeorgiou, rounded Protti elegantly and calmly rolled home for 2-0. The second goal did not rattle Fiorentino, who reorganised at the back and looked to cause problems on the counter. Shortly afterwards came the game’s turning point: the combative Zafferani, sporting a conspicuous bandage on his face after the blow in the first half, was brought down in the area and Fiorentino were awarded a penalty. Ercolani stepped up amid a deafening chorus of whistles, but the number ten kept his cool and beat Michalitsis to make it 2-1. And that was not all. Within a few minutes Michelotti’s side had the chance to complete an astonishing comeback, again through Ercolani, who exchanged neatly with Busignani and got his shot away, only for the ball to crash against the post. Fiorentino were buoyant and unafraid to play their game. Another good opportunity fell to Michelotti’s men when Ercolani picked out Busignani in the centre, his shot on target being held by Michalitsis. Just over five minutes from time came the sensational yet fully deserved equaliser for Fiorentino as Busignani skipped past Brazilian star Batata and drilled a powerful, precise strike from distance into the far corner for 2-2. Predictably, AEL Limassol were in no mood to settle and piled forward in search of a winner, but Fiorentino refused to give an inch. Just before the final minute, Protti pulled off another spectacular save to keep out yet another rocket from Lima. The keeper surpassed even that effort seconds from time, producing a miraculous stop on a delightful back-heel by Fabricio Lima – a save worth a goal for Fiorentino. It finished 2-2, a historic result for the rossoblù, who celebrated their first point in Europe’s premier futsal competition. Today is a rest day for Michelotti’s men; tomorrow at 17:00 local time (16:00 in San Marino) they play their final match against Armenian side Yerevan, who yesterday drew 4-4 with Swiss outfit Futsal Minerva.

---

UEFA Futsal Champions League, Preliminary Round | AEL Limassol – Fiorentino Futsal 2-2 AEL LIMASSOL Michalitsis, Sokratous, Schlemper, Kanjo, Chadjigeorgiou Substitutes: M. Anastasiadis, Tsakanias, Krekos, Rialas, Christodoulou, Skarparis, Andreou, Lima, E. Anastasiadis Coach: Charalambos Charalambous   FIORENTINO FUTSAL Protti, Maiani, Moretti, Zafferani, Busignani Substitutes: Bollini, Gasperoni, Ceccoli, Rossini, Ercolani, Giacobbi, Serra, Cevoli Coach: Matteo Michelotti   Referee 1: Panagiotis Ntalas (GRE) Referee 2: Kastriot Gerxhaliu (SWE) Third official: Trayan Enchev (BUL) Timekeeper: Nicolas Nicolaou (CYP)   Scorers: 22' 11 Schlemper, 23' 11 Lima, 28' 46'' pen. Ercolani, 34' 08'' Busignani

---