A couple of weeks ago, Serie A coaches lined out alongside rock singers for a charity match. It was one of those cheerful occasions when fans enjoyed themselves watching grey-haired Marcello Lippi of Inter, overweight Alberto Zaccheroni of AC Milan, enthusiastic Swede Sven Eriksson of Lazio and others trying to relive past glories.
In the midst of this fun one man stuck out - 60-year-old Fiorentina coach Giovanni Trapattoni. "Il Trap" refused to take the game as anything other than serious, running around like a man possessed, screaming orders at his team-mates and showing the sort of commitment and form that set him apart on a famous occasion more than 30 years ago when he had marked Pele out of an Italy v Brazil friendly.
Trapattoni, however, is also a subtle tactician and handler of men - and highly successful as seven Italian league titles (six with Juventus, one with Inter) and a Bundesliga title win with Bayern Munich in 1997 prove.
However, this has been a difficult autumn in Florence. When assessing the new season last summer, many critics argued this could finally be the year when Fiorentina end a 30-year drought and lift an Italian title last won in 1969.
The arrival of Enrico Chiesa and Yugsolav Pedrag Mijatovic to partner Gabriel Batistuta in attack, the addition of experienced battlers Angelo Di Livio and Fabio Rossitto in midfield as well as the promising Alessandro Pierini and Daniele Adani in defence all suggested that Fiorentina had formed a balanced, tough unit. For the relatively modest outlay of $25 million, Trapattoni had added six useful elements to his squad.
That was the theory. Then came the practice. While Chiesa immediately settled into the side, Mijatovic failed to convince, being hampered by an injury that has since required surgery and which will keep him out until February 2000.
It was in this context that the side twice came a cropper, being humiliated both by Barcelona in a 4-2 away thrashing in the Champions League and by AS Roma in a 3-1 home drubbing.
It was in this context, too, that an exasperated Trapattoni threw all his cards on the table on the eve of the vital second-leg clash with Arsenal last month.
Minutes after Fiorentina had inexplicably lost 2-0 to lowly Piacenza, Trapattoni offered to resign. The players were stunned.
Many of them had agreed to play for (or, in the case of Batistuta, stay at) Fiorentina only because Trapattoni was the coach.
Batistuta publicly expressed his horror at the thought of Il Trap resigning, adding that he "thanked God" for having been privileged to meet and work with Trapattoni. Batistuta, of course, then went on to underline his commitment to the FiorentinaTrapattoni cause with that splendid Wembley match-winner against Arsenal.
Against Manchester United tonight, a lot could depend upon Trapattoni and how successfully he fires his men up for their task. If Trapattoni is working the touchline in customary manner, splitting the night air with his shrill two-fingered whistles, Fiorentina will take heart.
