When Serie A Icon Gabriel Batistuta Was The Scourge Of England

With his long flowing locks, purple shirt and trademark machine-gun celebration, Gabriel Batistuta is fondly remembered in England, especially to those of a certain age who grew up watching “Football Italia” on Channel 4. The quiet, unassuming man who stayed loyal to Fiorentina for more years than most with his talent would have done was transformed on the pitch into a ruthless, goal scoring machine.

Also prolific for Argentina, he was La Albiceleste’s all-time leading goal-scorer with an incredible 56 goals in 78 matches, but was surpassed by Lionel Messi in 2016. His modern counterpart, however, has taken much longer to reach that total, his tally now standing at 58 goals in 117 international appearances. It is only when this stat is put into context that you begin to realise just how lethal “Batigol” really was.

Those Channel 4 viewers will have seen the Argentine – widely regarded as one of the most complete strikers of all time – fire Fiorentina to Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana trophies under the leadership of Claudio Ranieri back in 1996, but it was two years later when those English fans would see him on show against their own team in the 1998 World Cup.

It was an infamous game in Saint Etienne, not least for a wonderful goal scored by then 18-year-old Michael Owen, and that red card for David Beckham when he kicked out after captain Diego Simeone’s foul. In a match where no less than eight of the Argentina starting XI were playing their domestic football in Serie A, the English fans could not have been surprised when Batistuta stepped up and scored the penalty after David Seaman had brought down Simeone in the penalty area.

Yet much worse was to come for the England goalkeeper, when Fiorentina met Arsenal at the old Wembley stadium just a year later. A tense game in the Champions League group stages meant that a win for either side would put them through to the last 16. With the game just 15 minutes from time, Giovanni Trapattoni’s Fiorentina – who were very much the underdogs – had kept the score at 0-0.

Surrounded by three defenders, it seemed like Batigol had nowhere to go, but this is no ordinary player we are talking about. Live on prime-time ITV, the impossibly gifted forward somehow dragged the ball down the line, past the advancing Nigel Winterburn and emphatically smashed the ball home from a tight angle. That 1-0 scoreline held out, sending Arsenal into the UEFA cup.

It was a night that went down in history for Fiorentina’s loyal fans and was a performance from Batistuta that should have served as a warning for reigning champions Manchester United when they met the Tuscans in the second round of group stages.

A memorable night at the iconic Stadio Artemio Franchi saw the impossible happen. Fiorentina, with just two Scudetti to their name took the Red Devils at the height of their power. A 2-0 scoreline was thanks to a composed Batistuta strike, punishing a horrible back-pass from Roy Keane. Goal-scorer then turned provider, as Batigol forced the United defence into yet another misplaced pass, setting up fellow Argentinian Abel Balbo.

Recovering their composure at Old Trafford, Alex Ferguson’s side resumed normal service and went through to the next round, but the 3-1 scoreline inevitably contained a stunning goal from Batistuta that has long lived in the memories of Premier League supporters.

Following that performance, it is easy to see why after his retirement the striker admitted that he could have joined Manchester United or Real Madrid at the height of his powers. But the fact that he remained at Fiorentina through relegation to Serie B and back again right through the peak of his career is partly why he is remembered as such a special player and still revered in the Tuscan city that he still regards as his second home.

For those English Serie A fans however, those encounters against their own sides was a chance to see the legend himself up close and provided a glimpse of what could have been if he had indeed accepted one of those prestigious offers.