Fiorentina’s journey in the UEFA Conference League in recent seasons has been a rollercoaster of near triumphs and heartbreak. The Viola have beaten a stellar cast of some of Europe’s most storied clubs en route to reaching back-to-back finals. Inexplicably though, the Tuscan club lost both in devastating fashion.
Now, the Florence outfit gears up for its third straight campaign in the continent’s third-tier tournament. They will be hoping that the third time’s the charm this term.
Wroclaw Beckons?
Fiorentina once again head into the Conference League this year as a contender and will certainly fancy their chances of winning the tournament. However, the stellar cast of teams competing alongside them will certainly hinder their ambitions. Germany’s representatives are unheralded Heidenheim, England’s Premier League has provided heavyweights Chelsea, Real Betis will be flying the Spanish flag, and Lens will hold France’s tricolor high.
Of the 36 teams participating in the revamped tournament this year, it’s clear that the Stamford Bridge club is the heavy favourite and the Blues will take some stopping this term. Online bookmakers have made Enzo Maresca’s men a short-priced 2.75 frontrunner for glory. Popular odds comparison site Oddschecker has compiled an up-to-date list of all the latest bonus offerings available to utilise on the Conference League, such as a bet $5 get $200 offer, allowing bettors to back Chelsea – or Fiorentina for that matter – relatively risk-free.
But before the Viola can think about booking their tickets for Wroclaw next May, they have a long and arduous task ahead of them. They first need to navigate a newly enlarged league phase in which the top eight teams qualify for the round of 16 and the teams between ninth place and 24th qualify for the initial knockout round. Fiorentina has tough tests on the horizon against the likes of Austrian side LASK Linz and Swiss outfit St. Gallen, but they are tests that manager Raffaele Palladino will expect his team to pass with flying colors.
Prior Heartache
Following the success of Roma in the inaugural Conference League in 2021/22, Fiorentina looked to follow in Giallorossi‘s footsteps. They beat the likes of Braga, Sivasspor, Lech Poznań and FC Basel to reach the Prague-hosted final. There, they ran into Premier League club West Ham United and were slight underdogs to walk away with the trophy.
On the day of the final, the Viola were without a doubt the better of the two teams on the pitch, dominating in possession without managing to truly impose their will. Ultimately, that cost them in the end when a last-gasp Jarrod Bowen breakaway goal took the trophy back to East London.
The following campaign, the Tuscan outfit made it to the final once again, knocking out teams such as Club Brugge and Maccabi Haifa to punch their tickets to Athens. There they met an Olympiacos side looking to not just lift the trophy in their home city, but also on the turf of one of their rivals in the form of AEK Athens. Once again, Fiorentina would lose in heartbreaking fashion, this time through Ayoub El Kaabi’s 116th-minute winner.
Third Time Lucky?
Attention now turns to the future and reaching a third straight final, something that very few teams have done in European competitions over the years. Should Fiorentina manage to do exactly that, they will be hoping that it’s third time lucky.
With a revamped team led by former Juventus striker Moise Kean, the Viola certainly have the talent to take the fight to anyone in the competition. They will be expecting that their experience in the tournament and their previous heartbreaks will be enough to get them over the finish line and lock up the victory.