A draw was the result in the only official match as coaches, 2-2 in the second half of Serie A 2009/10 when Mihajlovic was managing Catania and Leonardo AC Milan. They have met on the football field on 7 different occasions, with Leonardo sporting Milan's colours and Mihajlovic those of Sampdoria and Lazio: the Brazilian is unbeaten with 4 victories in his favour and 3 draws.

There has never been a draw between Mihajlovic (as a coach) and Inter: so far only one win each. Both of those games came at home for the Serbian coach and both teams scored, with 4 goals for Mihajlovic's sides and 3 for the Nerazzurri. As well as being Roberto Mancini's assistant at Inter in 2006/07 and 2007/08, Mihajlovic also played for us in 2004/05 and 2005/06, making 43 appearances and scoring 6 goals.

This is the third time Leonardo has faced Fiorentina as a coach in competitive fixtures. He won both previous games, which were the Serie A matches played when he was coach of AC Milan in 2009/10.

The last time Fiorentina beat Inter was by 2-1 at the Stadio Franchi on 8 February 2006, in Serie A. Since then they have met 10 times in competitive matches drawing twice and the Nerazzurri have been victorious on 8 occasions. In the last 8 encounters Fiorentina have only managed to score in one of them, the 2-2 home match played on 10 April last season in Serie A.

Fiorentina are unbeaten in their last three matches in Serie A, winning two and drawing one. If they manage a positive result today, they will equal their previous best run of useful results for this season, which is 4 league matches without defeat, between Week 18 and Week 21 with 1 win and 3 draws. Actually in their last 8 league matches, the Tuscans have only lost once. That was in Rome when they went down 0-2 against Lazio on 29 January last.

Fiorentina haven't lost at home since 3 October 2010, 1-2 against Palermo in Serie A. Then they put together a run of 8 wins and 1 draw; Lecce being the only team who managed to come away with a point, 1-1 on 23 January last. Further to this, Fiorentina have always scored at least once in each of their last 14 competitive home matches, with a total of 20 goals for. The last home match they didn't manage to score in dates back to 25 April 2010 when, in Serie A, they lost 0-2 against Chievo Verona.

Gaetano D’Agostino, who is Sicilian to the bone, if he should play, will celebrate his 300th official appearance as a professional. His total of 299 appearances to date, when he played for Roma, Bari, Messina, Udinese and Fiorentina, are as follows: 193 in Serie A, 63 in B, 21 in Coppa Italia and 22 in Europe. D'Agostino's official debut was on 14 September 2000: Hit Gorica 1 - 4 Roma, in the UEFA Cup.

Tricks of fate: Giampaolo Pazzini returns to the fold as an ex-player to celebrate his 200th appearance in Serie A, where he has played for Atalanta, Fiorentina, Sampdoria and Inter. He made his debut on 12 September 2004 in Atalanta 2-2 Lecce. Giampaolo Pazzini is on the verge of scoring his 100th professional goal, just counting those he has scored for his clubs. He has been on the scoresheet 67 times in Serie A, 9 in B, 18 in Coppa Italia and 5 in European competitions. His first was on 14 September 2003, in the 82nd minute of Atalanta 2-1 AlbinoLeffe, in serie B.

Inter are one of the three goal-scoring cooperatives in Serie A 2010/11, along with Roma and Juventus. The Nerazzurri, Giallorossi and Bianconeri have each had 12 different names on their scoresheets. Inter's 12 scorers so far are Cambiasso, Chivu, Eto’o, Kharja, Lucio, Milito, Muntari, Pandev, Pazzini, Sneijder, Stankovic and Thiago Motta.

Inter haven't drawn in their last 13 league games, picking up 8 victories and 5 defeats. Their last draw was on 10 November last, 1-1 against Lecce. Leonardo hasn't drawn in the Italian championship for 14, with a tally of 9 victories and 5 losses. His last draw was against Sinisa Mihajlovic, in Milan 2-2 Catania on 11 April 2010.

Today Andrea Ranocchia celebrates his 23rd birthday. He was born on 16 February 1988, in Assisi (Pg)

Inter are the Serie A 2010/11 team which score the highest number of goals in the last half-hour of the match, including added time: 24 out of a total of 44 which is 54,5% of the whole. They have scored 15 between the 61st and 75th minute (the only team to do this in Serie A 2010/11) and 9 in the final 15 minutes of play, including added time.

In Serie A 2010/11 Inter are the team that has earned the most points in the second half: compared to their first-half scorelines, they are 12 points better off after 90 minutes.

FLORENCE – Inter, a different team and now world champions in February compared to the December outfit, beat Fiorentina 1-2 in the rearranged Serie A 2010/11 Week 17 fixture (originally scheduled for 18 December) at the Stadio Franchi this evening.

It was an own goal by Camporese at the end of a move constructed by Maicon, Stankovic and Eto'o that opened the scoring and gave the Nerazzurri an early lead after 6 minutes, before Pasqual equalised in the 27th minute when his cross was missed by everyone and caught out Julio Cesar. Ranocchia celebrated his 23rd birthday with an assured performance while Pazzini had his own party as he made his 200th Serie A appearance, doing what he does best and scoring (his fourth for Inter), which proved to be enough to clinch all three points.

FIRST HALF – Leonardo gave Yuto Nagatomo his full debut at left-back, with Ranocchia and Cordoba confirmed at the heart of defence. In midfield, with Thiago Motta sitting out through suspension, Stankovic made his first appearance in the side since getting injured on 26 January in the cup match against Napoli. Santana and Mutu started behind Gilardino for the home side.

Inter began on the attack with Eto’o laying off for Maicon to cross to the far post, where Stankovic was inches away from connecting. Fiorentina hit back immediately and only a timely intervention from Cordoba prevented Montolivo from threading through for Gilardino. The Nerazzurri got their noses in front after 6 minutes of play thanks to an own goal by Camporese: Maicon burst forward on the break and passed to Stankovic, who in turn laid off for Eto'o; the Cameroonian tried a shot and the defender's clumsy attempt at a clearance ended up beating his own keeper. Stankovic's foul on Mutu gifted Fiorentina a freekick, which the Romanian took himself: it was well hit and well saved by Julio Cesar. Fiorentina went on the attack again: Mutu fired in an angled drive that Julio Cesar got down well for (16th minute), Gamberini's shot was blocked by Cordoba (18th) and Santana had another chance (22nd). The Argentinian then stayed on the ground after a high-speed clash with Zanetti: the Inter skipper clearly played the ball but Santana picked up a knock to the back of his thigh (25th), so Ljajic came on in his place. The home side found an equaliser on 33 minutes: Pasqual's cross turned into a shot when Gilardino and Cordoba both failed to connect and the ball bounced beyond Julio Cesar. A few minutes later Ranocchia got his body in front of Montolivo's fierce drive before Julio Cesar punched away Mutu's rasping effort. Pazzini, on his 200th appearance in Serie A, made his presence felt after 42 minutes when he got his head onto Maicon's cross, but could only direct his effort above the bar. Fiorentina went closer on the stroke of half time, Ljajic first hitting an effort on the turn from the edge of the box that sailed whiskers over, then – set up by Mutu – striking an arrowed effort that forced Inter's Brazilian shotstopper into a fantastic save. After two minutes of added time, the teams headed in with the score at 1-1.

SECOND HALF – No changes were made at half time and after the kick-off it was Stankovic who went close with a right-footed volley (49th minute): Boruc was equal to it and managed to palm the ball away before it crossed the line. After 56 minutes Ranocchi made a decisive challenge on Gilardino to win back the ball as he was reaching the area. Finally, on 62 minutes, Pazzini could celebrate - without overdoing it in front of his ex-fans - his 100th goal with a classic striker's finish: a great run by Eto'o, who came inside from the right, skipped past Camporese and sent a hard cross through the box to find Pazzini, who knocked in from just in front of goal and put Inter back in the lead 1-2. Babacar, who came on in the 41st minute, tried to exploit an inviting pass from Gilardino, but Ranocchia was once again there to intercept after 43 minutes.

After 3 minutes of added time, Fiorentina v Inter ended 1-2. The Nerazzurri move past Lazio into third position in the league on 47 points.

Fiorentina v Inter 1-2
Scorers: 6 Camporese (o.g.), 33 Pasqual, 62 Pazzini.

Fiorentina: 84 Boruc; 15 Comotto, 5 Gamberini, 31 Camporese, 23 Pasqual; 18 Montolivo, 4 Donadel (21 D'Agostino, 73), 85 Behrami (9 Babacar, 86); 7 Santana (22 Ljajic. 27) 11 Gilardino, 10 Mutu.
Unused subs: 89 Neto, 14 Natali, 21 D'Agostino, 29 De Silvestri, 32 Marchionni.
Coach: Sinisa Mihajlovic.

Inter:1 Julio Cesar; 13 Maicon, 15 Ranocchia, 2 Cordoba, 55 Nagatomo (14 Kharja, 71); 4 Zanetti, 19 Cambiasso, 5 Stankovic (20 Obi, 89); 10 Sneijder (17 Mariga, 82); 7 Pazzini, 9 Eto'o.
Unused subs 12 Castellazzi, 23 Materazzi, 27 Pandev, 29 Coutinho.
Coach: Leonardo.

starting lineups

substitutes