On Thursday, Fiorentina will host Inter in a make-up game of the Serie A match that was suspended at minute 17 on Dec. 1 after the collapse of Italian midfielder Edoardo Bove. The clash was immediately suspended as the conditions of the former AS Roma player were unclear, but luckily it turned out he was OK after the 22-year-old was stretchered off the pitch and placed into an ambulance in the corner before leaving the Stadio Artemio Franchi and transported to Careggi hospital in Florence. On Feb. 6 the game will resume at the minute it was abandoned.
Here's what to know:
How to watch and odds
- Date: Thursday, Feb. 6 | Time: 2:45 p.m. ET
- Location: Stadio Artemio Franchi -- Florence, Italy
- Live stream: Paramount+
- Odds: Fiorentina +300; Draw +250; Inter -110
Edoardo Bove's situation explained
The Italian midfielder suffered cardiac arrest on the pitch, and the week after the game was suspended, the Italian midfielder underwent surgery to install the implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), a type of pacemaker that can prevent fatal cardiac arrest by delivering a shock to restore a normal heart rhythm. Since an ICD not permitted to play in the Italian Serie A, the results of further medical tests will determine if he will be able to remove the device or not, allowing him to play again with Fiorentina. In general, the tests will also determine if he will be able to play again football outside of the country, as for example, Christian Eriksen did, who went through a similar incident at UEFA Euro 2020 in Denmark's game against Finland. Eriksen, who was under contract with Inter, had to leave Italian football and six months later joined Brentford before Manchester United decided to sign him in the summer of 2022.
What exactly happened in the 17th minute?
A few moments before the collapse, Inter striker Lautaro Martinez seemed to score the opening goal of the game, but it was disallowed and all the eyes at that moment were on the referee as he made his decision after Inter wing back Denzel Dumfries had failed to keep the ball in play. While all the attention was there, Bove was seen on his knees, adjusting his shoes, and when he got up again, he collapsed after a few steps. His fall immediately caught the attention of Dumfries, who was the first one asking for help, followed by the whole Inter bench, given that they were in front of the Fiorentina player when it happened. Inter manager Simone Inzaghi ran onto the pitch, alongside his staff and was immediately followed by Fiorentina's bench and the medical staff. The two teams, as has become customary when a serious medical incident takes place, created a circle around the player, to prevent cameras from intruding during the distressing situation that was taking place.
Why do Fiorentina have only 14 players available?
Due to the regulations, both teams will have to restart the game with the same rosters that were eligible to play the day the game was suspended. After the January transfer window, Fiorentina made a lot of changes in the team and can't play with the new signings, while other players left the club in the latest transfer session. Fiorentina manager Raffaele Palladino explained the status of his roster in the pre-match press conference.
"As you know, we can't play the new players for Thursday, there will be very few of us. Fourteen, to be precise, with two players that we are trying to recover. I'm sure that those few will play a great game. Given the moment, we need to be even more of a team and get 100% out of every single player. We will try to make things difficult for Inter. We will add some U-19 players who have already trained with us in recent days," he said.
Inter, on the other hand, have a much better situation as they only replaced one player in the January transfer window, with the signing of Nicola Zalewski from AS Roma after the departure of Canadian winger Tajon Buchanan, who joined Villarreal on loan.
