What has caused Fiorentina’s severe decline this season?

Fiorentina are currently bottom of Serie A, without a win, and a defeat against Dynamo Kyiv in the Europa League on Thursday could it be the final straw for the club’s board.

Winless in 14 league matches (D6, L8), and already seven points adrift of safety, what has happened to Fiorentina this season? Manager Paolo Vanoli could be the first to find out by feeling the wrath of the owners.

No one could have predicted Fiorentina’s current decline

It would have been dismissed as nonsense if you had told someone that Fiorentina would be languishing in turmoil on and off the pitch only four months of the 2025/26 campaign, especially when you consider their recent record in Europe.

The Violets have reached the final of the Conference League on no less than two occasions over the last three years. However, on both of those visits, defeats have approached the front of Fiorentina fans’ eyes.

Making their current decline even more alarming and unpredictable is that they reached the competition’s semi-final stage last season before being beaten by Real Betis after extra time.

After finishing in sixth position last season to qualify for the Conference League for a fourth successive campaign, Fiorentina have begun the 2025/26 Serie A campaign in unforeseen circumstances.

Serie B isn’t a sight Fiorentina haven’t seen for

Fiorentina haven’t played in Serie B in over two decades due to their performances on the pitch. It was actually down to the club being forced to declare bankruptcy on 27th September 2002.

The last time Fiorentina were relegated from the top flight down to their underwhelming performances across 90 minutes was in the 1992/93 campaign after finishing 16th with 30 points.

Vanoli’s side have only accumulated six points so far this season, so they are still eight wins away from reaching that points tally from 33 years ago. However, there is no guarantee that there will be enough points to save the Violets from playing in Serie B next season.

Could the next six matches define Fiorentina’s season?

Fiorentina’s next few weeks across all competitions begin with a game with Dynamo Kyiv on Thursday before a return to domestic action against Hellas Verona on Sunday. The Violets then return to Europe to play their final Conference League phase encounter on December 18th at Lausanne.

Vanoli’s sides’ next three matches will be played against the domestic backdrop of a match with Udinese, a trip to Parma, and then a return home to take on Cremonese.

The match at Verona will be of the utmost significance among those six matches, with both sides currently occupying 19th and 20th positions in the Serie A standings. The trip to Parma is also another early relegation ‘six-pointer’ with the Crusaders only a point above the relegation zone.

Last season’s standout players are severely underperforming

Fiorentina are the only side in the league to have not won a game this season, and that unwanted transition has affected their threat(s) in the final third. 2024/25 top-scorer, Moise Kean, who bagged 19 goals, has only found the back of the net twice in 13 matches this season.

With Kean currently misfiring, it was up to £25million summer signing Roberto Piccoli to find the back of the net. However, he has scored only once in 12 matches and hasn’t even played a single minute across the 2025/26 Conference League campaign.

Supporters might be thinking back to January 2022 that things will be different today, but ultimately they couldn’t keep hold of Dusan Vlahovic, who scored 49 goals across 108 appearances.

Speaking of another big 2024/25 player currently struggling for form this season. Albert  Guðmundsson, who scored six and assisted one last season, has only celebrated twice in 12 matches in 2025/26.

Summer departures have not been replaced

The big departure from Stadio Artemio Franchi, in terms of money anyway, hasn’t helped matters either. Key attacker Nico González departed the club in favour of fellow Serie A outfit Juventus.

At the opposite end of the pitch, Fiorentina conceded 40 goals throughout last season, but have been breached on 24 occasions already in 2025/26 after playing just 14 matches.

Right-back Michael Kayode left to join Brentford, and defensive midfielder Sofyan Amrabat packed his bags for Turkey. While Robin Gosens and Tariq Lamptey have been brought in to fill those required gaps, both full-backs are a lot more attack-minded than they are defensively.

Is potential unrest behind Fiorentina’s decline?

Fractured relationships in the dressing room were visible in Fiorentina’s 3-1 defeat at Sassuolo on Saturday. Rolando Mandragora and Kean were involved in a verbal disagreement on the pitch over who would take their ninth-minute penalty.

To be fair, Mandragora did score the spot-kick, but it was still another sign leading to unrest behind closed doors. To make matters worse, Vanoli confirmed in his post-match conference that Guðmundsson, who is actually the club’s registered penalty-taker didn’t want the responsibility. That lead to the Iceland international heading over to social media to say this wasn’t actually the case.

When you are languishing at the bottom of the table without any domestic celebration, fans are expected to be annoyed, so tensions are going to be high in the dressing room.

What might fall into Fiorentina’s lap is that Kiev have lost three of their four Conference League phase matches this season (W1).

A much-needed win might save Vanoli from the sack for a few days, but if the Violets lose to Verona on Sunday, you would think that will result in the sack.