Last month, the footballing world was met with the awful news that Fiorentina captain Davide Astori had passed away after suffering a heart attack in his hotel room in Udine as the team were preparing for the Serie A game with Udinese.
It must have been a horrible few months for the Viola players and you wouldn't have been able to blame them had they not been in the right frame of mind for games - because of the heartache and grief they will have experienced.
But, touchingly, Fiorentina have been doing their skipper proud with their performances of late.
Against Benevento, in their first game since the loss of the former Italy international, emotions were understandably high - with every player, as well as manager Stefano Piolo, wearing shirts with 'Astori 13' on the back in the warm-up and walk-on.
The ball was kicked out of play in the 13th minute in a poignant tribute at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
With his shirt still hung up in the dressing room, Fiorentina battled to a 1-0 win and have continued to taste victory.
Since Astori's death, his teammates have won five games on the trot in Serie A and have equalled a long-standing club record of six consecutive victories in the process.
Astori skippered the team a to a win over Chievo in what unfortunately turned out to be his last ever game, and Fiorentina have since beaten Benevento, Torino, Crotone, Udinese (in the rearranged fixture) and Roma - the latter triumph coming away at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.
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After their excellent run of form, Fiorentina are seventh in the table, only two points behind sixth-placed AC Milan. The players and coaches deserve an incredible amount of respect for how they have got on with their job in such testing times.
Featured Image Credit:Topics:ย Football News, Football, Serie A, Davide Astori, Fiorentina, Italy
