The stakes are as high as they can be as Fiorentina take a trip to the Netherlands to meet Twente in the second leg of their Europa Conference League tie. After a 2-1 home win in the first leg last week, the Italians are in a prime position to qualify for the competition proper, but there’s no room for complacency.
Fiorentina will want to make sure they don’t end up ruing missed opportunities from the first leg. Nico Gonzalez and Artur Cabral were on the scoresheet for La Viola only 31 minutes into the game. Vincenzo Italiano’s side continued to mount pressure on their visitors but to no avail.
Twente pulled one back midway through the second half as Vaclav Cerny restored hope in the Dutch camp that they could reach European football for the first time in over a decade. With a single-goal deficit, Ron Jans’ men have all to play for in this ultimate showdown at De Grolsch Veste.
However, Twente are still slight outsiders to turn this tie on its head despite boasting home comforts in this potentially season-defining fixture for the former Eredivisie champions. On the other hand, Fiorentina will be out to capitalise on a long-awaited opportunity to play in a major European competition.
Match Preview
Twente
Early exchanges in the 2022/23 campaign have shown Twente’s last season’s fourth-place finish in the Eredivisie was no fluke.
Before losing at Artemio Franchi, they had won four consecutive games across all competitions this term. That included a brace of multi-goal margin wins over Serbian outfit Cukaricki in the previous Europa Conference League qualifying round.
But you would have to go back to the 2010/11 Champions League season for Twente’s last foray into European club football. Years of financial struggle combined with sub-standard results on the domestic front have turned the 2009/10 Eredivisie champions into a mediocre side.
All that could be undone if they overturn this tie.
Fiorentina
It’s been six years since Fiorentina last plied their trade in Europe. Like Twente, La Viola have failed to cope with fierce domestic competition, leading to their exhaustingly long absence from continental action. But they are now on the cusp of making it to the Europa Conference League group stages.
Fiorentina followed up the first-leg victory over Twente with a tepid scoreless draw at Empoli despite being a man up for most of the second half at Carlo Castellani. Fiorentina’s first clean sheet in three matches this season was a rare positive from an otherwise keenly-contested battle against fellow Tuscan rivals.
Now gearing up for their third-ever continental clash against Dutch opposition, Fiorentina can draw confidence from going unbeaten in their last four competitive outings (W3, D1). On top of that, they went unbeaten in both previous European meetings with Eredivisie adversaries.
It took place in the 2007/08 Europa League quarter-finals as La Viola ousted PSV Eindhoven 3-1 on aggregate (1-1 H, 2-0 A).
How Could Twente & Fiorentina Line Up?
Twente (4-2-3-1): Lars Unnerstall; Joshua Brenet, Mees Hilgers, Robin Propper, Gijs Smal; Ramiz Zerrouki, Michal Sadilek; Vaclav Cerny, Michel Vlap, Christos Tzolis; Ricky van Wolfswinkel.
Fiorentina (4-3-3): Pierluigi Gollini; Dodo, Nikola Milenkovic, Lucas Martinez Quarta, Cristiano Biraghi; Giacomo Bonaventura, Sofyan Amrabat, Rolando Mandragora; Nico Gonzalez, Luka Jovic, Jonathan Ikone.