The Da Vinci Code carries the name of Florence's favourite son but Lawrence Shankland insists he's already deciphered how to crack Fiorentina's defence.
The Hearts striker believes all roads lead to Lazio in the search of the Holy Grail as the Jambos attempt to land a historic Europa Conference League win and revive their Group A ambitions. La Viola were hammered 4-0 by their Italian rivals on Monday and languish in 13th spot on the Serie A table, it was a result which had the home fans sending their team off at full-time to a crescendo of boos.
Shankland is well aware that Fiorentina's 3-0 win at Tynecastle last Thursday underlined their quality but when it comes to finding reasons to be confident the secrets to the Italian side's defence can be unravelled. He said: "Fiorentina took a heavy defeat on Monday so they can lose goals. If you attack them in the right ways you can get at them.
"We have done analysis and worked on our game plan. It was difficult last week but we didn't help ourselves losing an early goal. "They started playing with confidence, knocked it around and frustrated us. We couldn't get close to get the ball off them. Hopefully Thursday is a bit different."
Shankland was replaced early into the second-half last midweek after a frustrating night of trying without success in unlocking Fiorentina's offside trap. The supremacy of the Italians was shown in their comprehensive domination of the ball and they could and should have converted more than just their three goals given the amount of chances they created.
But the Hearts hitman is convinced it will have no bearing on events at the Stadio Artemio Franchi and refuted the suggestion they afforded La Viola to high a degree of respect. "I don't think we showed them too much respect," he said.
"They are a good team and played very well at Tynecastle. We didn't execute our game plan as well as we could have and that helped them. They got an early goal and grew in confidence so we struggled to get a foothold in the game. Thursday is a fresh game, a fresh start and hopefully we can start better."
If Hearts are to upset the odds and manage to be the first Scottish side to win in Italy since Rangers beat Livorno 3-2 back in 2006 then it will require a gameplan from boss Robbie Neilson which could resemble a masterpiece. Shankland insists he's undaunted by the size of the challenge which faces the Tynecastle club and he's adamant they have a squad which is tailor made for the occasion.
He said: "Most of the boys have played in big games, we are at a big club and know what we are representing. It's easy for us to be ready for these games. The test can be different in terms of the ability of the opponents. We are as ready as we can be."
Liam Henderson is currently strutting his stuff in Serie A with Empoli and fellow Scot Jack Hendry's on the books at Cremonese. Shankland paid tribute to the duo as he knows well the test of moving abroad after his own spell in Belgium with Beerschot.
He said: "There are a few Scottish boys now playing in Italy so you keep an eye on it because of that. They are in big competitions so it's hard not to take notice of their league. It's a good standard and a good test at places like this. It's difficult for Scottish lads moving away into a different culture but it's good to see them doing well in such a good league."
Hearts boss Robbie Neilson has faced criticism of his own after a run of only three wins from their last 12 games. The Jambos admits something has to give tonight against a side which has head coach Vincenzo Italiano the target of fan fury.
He said: "We have to win every game, that's the way it seems to be. If we want to progress, it's a massive game for both teams. Outwith Istanbul, the other three teams in the section are pretty tight. I'd say this is just as big a game for Fiorentina.
"I watched their game on Monday and it was a disappointing scoreline for them. They actually played very well and got hit on counter-attack four times. I'd expect them to bounce back. It's no difference for us whether they won or lost."
Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou and his Rangers counterpart Gio van Bronckhorst have made reference to the pressures on Scottish teams with European demands of a relentless two games in a week schedule but Neilson wasn't about to nod in agreement. He said: "No, I don't. We want to get to that stage and be a big club participating regularly in European football.
"It's a massive learning curve for everyone - players, staff and fans - but we want to continue doing it. It's an honour to represent Scotland in Europe. We need to prepare for European games and then we come back and need to win at Aberdeen. It's an extra workload and extra pressure but it's one we enjoy having.
"Fiorentina and Basaksehir are top teams and Zurich are Swiss champions. You want to be playing at the highest level. This is a great level for us to learn and hopefully we can continue that over the next couple of years."
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