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Nine years after their first match-up in competitive competitions, Fiorentina and Benevento are set to meet again at the Stadio Franchi on Friday. Of the five previous league and cup encounters, the Viola have triumphed on four occasions, losing just once: 1-0 in 2020. The only Coppa Italia meeting was a round-of-16 clash in 2021. On that occasion, goals by Nikola Milenkovic and Riccardo Sottil saw Fiorentina through to the next round, while Benevento's goal was scored by Gabriele Moncini. Fabio Grosso – making his first appearance in the Fiorentina dugout for a competitive match – and Antonio Floro Flores will be facing off as coaches for the first time. As players, they only met once, in a game between Juventus and Udinese in 2009 when Grosso scored the only goal of the game. The pair got to know each other better during their time togther at Bari, when Grosso was a coach and Floro Flores a player. Indeed, the former striker has said that it is thanks to the current Viola boss that he decided to go into coaching himself. The referee for the game will be Gianluca Manganiello, taking charge of a Fiorentina match for the 12th time (five wins, five draws and one loss for the Viola). He only oversaw one Fiorentina game last season: the 0-0 draw with Pisa. Manganiello will be assisted by Matteo Passeri and Matteo Lauri, with Alessandro Silvestri as fourth official. Aleandro Di Paolo and Ivano Pezzuto will be in the VAR room. One of the ballboys at the Franchi on Friday will be Antonio Floro Flores's son Armando, who currently plays for Fiorentina U16s.