A surreal situation at Fiorentina: Mastantuono’s coach sacked after three games, replaced by his predecessor

Franco Mastantuono joined Fiorentina seeking playing time and a football revival after his expensive move to Real Madrid. Instead, his second European experience began with a surreal coaching change after only three Serie A matches.

Fiorentina dismissed Fabio Grosso following three straight defeats and brought back Paolo Vanoli, the coach who had led the team until the end of last season. Grosso’s side lost 4-0 to Roma, 3-0 to Frosinone and 2-1 to Torino. Mastantuono started each match and spent 198 minutes on the field.

Vanoli returned to training on Monday. The club said he accepted the new appointment “with enthusiasm.” He first took charge of Fiorentina in November 2025, replacing Stefano Pioli, and inherited a team at the bottom of Serie A. Despite guiding it to survival after a difficult campaign, the club did not extend his contract and instead chose Grosso for the new season.

The 54-year-old former left-back has spent much of his playing and coaching career in Italian football. He played for Parma and Fiorentina, with further spells at Rangers and in Greece. After working on Antonio Conte’s staff at Chelsea and Inter Milan, he became a professional head coach with Spartak Moscow in 2021 and won the Russian Cup. He later took Venezia from the lower part of Serie B to promotion to Italy’s top division in 2024, then coached Torino before his first Fiorentina spell. The change leaves Mastantuono facing a second coach in the opening weeks of his new campaign.

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with enthusiasm