Tears, a five-minute silence and a stopped match: Fiorentina say goodbye to Astori

Updated 11/03/2018 at 12:20 GMT

Fiorentina paid an emotional tribute to Davide Astori ahead of their Serie A match against Benevento, just one week since his tragic death.

Fiorentina players hold a banner in memory of former player Davide Astori before the match

Image credit: Reuters

Astori, 31, was found dead in his hotel room last weekend, leading to that Sunday’s Serie A programme to be suspended.

Fiorentina are playing Benevento at the Stadio Artemio Franchi and showed their love for their former captain as football resumed.

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Players lined up with ‘Ciao Davide’ slogans on their shirts and the stadium was so quiet that the sound of the opposing teams’ hands slapping together could be clearly heard as they greeted each other before kick-off.

Both sets of supporters stayed almost completely silent for five minutes in a respectful and moving tribute to Astori.

And the match was halted temporarily in the 13th minute to allow another show of respect.

When Vitor Hugo opened the scoring for Fiorentina, he ran to the sidelines to salute Astori.

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