Viola warned to be on their guard

Never again
The French international was a member of the FC Internazionale Milano side that lost out to Helsingborgs IF in the 2000/01 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, while his Parma FC side fell foul of LOSC Lille Métropole the following summer. "I have been eliminated twice at this stage because my team underestimated their opponents and I don't want it to happen again," he said.

Olympic duty
Coach Cesare Prandelli will be without midfielder Riccardo Montolivo, who is on Olympic duty with Italy, scoring in the 3-0 win against Korea Republic on Sunday that took the Azzurrini to the quarter-finals. "I know he scored and I am happy for him," said the 28-year-old Frey, who extended his contract in Florence to 2013 this summer. "We will definitely miss Riccardo but there are many players who can take his place."

Potential replacements
One potential replacement is Brazilian Felipe Melo, a summer signing from UD Almería who is settling in well. "I feel at ease with my new team-mates and with Prandelli, an intelligent person who talks us through every detail," said the 24-year-old. Sergio Almirón, on loan from Juventus, may also be in line for a game, but Senegal forward Papa Waigo, defenders Manuel da Costa and Gianluca Comotto, and midfielder Martin Jørgensen will miss both legs.

Iron Maiden concert
The Czech side, meanwhile, have had the weekend to prepare for the game with their league fixture against FK Příbram moved back to last Wednesday to make way for an Iron Maiden concert being played at their Eden Stadium. Zdeněk Šenkeřík scored the only goal of that game to give last season's Czech champions their first victory of the campaign at the second attempt.

Daunting task
Having watched Fiorentina on video, coach Karel Jarolím knows what to expect. He said: "[Alberto] Gilardino, who arrived from AC Milan, has excellent movement, [Adrian] Mutu is outstanding while we know [Mario Alberto] Santana from the games against [US Cittá di] Palermo [which Slavia lost on away goals to miss out on the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage]." Slavia's task has been made tougher by injuries to experienced midfielder Vladimír Šmicer and defender František Dřížďal but Fiorentina will do well to heed Frey's words.