UECL 2023 Braga - Fiorentina match facts

Braga make their UEFA Europa Conference League debut in the knockout play-offs with a first European fixture against Fiorentina, who came through the competition's group stage with the best record of the eight runners-up.

Braga failed to progress from their UEFA Europa League group for the first time in five years this season, finishing third in their section behind European group stage debutants Union Saint-Gilloise and Union Berlin, while Fiorentina were edged out of top spot in UEFA Europa Conference League Group A by İstanbul Başakşehir.

Previous meetings

Braga have faced Italian clubs nine times previously in UEFA competition. They won three of their first four fixtures (L1) but have managed no victories in the last five (D2 L3) – though the two draws came in the same tie, a 2012/13 UEFA Champions League play-off against Udinese that they won on penalties. That success made it three wins out of three in two-legged ties against Italian sides, but their perfect record ended in the fourth and most recent such contest when Roma defeated them in the 2020/21 UEFA Europa League round of 32 (0-2 h, 1-3 a).

Fiorentina's record against Portuguese opposition in 12 fixtures is W6 D3 L3 with clean sheets in all of the last four (W3 D1). Their four previous knockout ties have all been closely contested affairs, with defeats on away goals then penalties in the first two and wins in the two most recent – against Benfica in the 1996/97 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals (2-0 a, 0-1 h) and Sporting CP on away goals in the 2009/10 UEFA Champions League play-offs (2-2 a, 1-1 h).

Form guide

Braga

Braga's 18th European qualification in the last 19 years was achieved with a fourth-placed finish in the Portuguese Liga. They also reached last season's UEFA Europa League quarter-finals, where they were eliminated after extra time by Rangers (1-0 h, 1-3 a). Coach Carlos Carvalhal left in the summer, to be replaced by B team boss Artur Jorge.

Braga competed in an eighth UEFA Europa League group stage this season, more than any other Portuguese club, but failed to progress to the knockout phase for only the second time despite racking up ten points from their six games against Malmö (2-0 a, 2-1 h), Union Berlin (1-0 h, 0-1 a) and Union SG (1-2 h, 3-3 a). That was the highest tally of all eight third-placed teams that crossed over to the UEFA Europa Conference League.

Braga's last-gasp loss to Union SG on Matchday 3 is their only defeat in their last nine European home games, seven of those ending in victory.

Fiorentina

Fiorentina claimed seventh place in Serie A last season under new head coach Vincenzo Italiano to make a first appearance in Europe since 2016/17. When they last returned to UEFA competition after an equally lengthy break, in 2007/08, they reached the UEFA Cup semi-finals.

The Viola were UEFA Europa League group participants four seasons running from 2013/14 to 2016/17, reaching the semi-finals in the second of those campaigns and always getting through to the knockout phase. They returned to the continental stage this August in the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying play-offs, edging past Twente to reach the group stage, where they recovered from a poor start to win their last four matches, scoring 13 goals in the process, eight of them in back-to-back wins against Hearts (3-0 a, 5-1 h). They finished level on 13 points with İstanbul Başakşehir but below them on head-to-head goal difference (0-3 a, 2-1 h).

That 0-3 defeat in İstanbul on Matchday 2 is Fiorentina's only loss in their last eight European fixtures outside Italy. They bounced back with victories by the same score at both Hearts and Latvian champions RFS and have now kept clean sheets in seven of their last 12 European away games.

UEFA Europa Conference League squad changes

Braga

In: Pizzi (Al Wahda), Josafat Mendes (AIK), Bruma (Fenerbahçe, loan)
Out: Bruno Rodrigues (Fatih Karagümrük, loan), Fabiano (Kasımpaşa, loan), Hernâni Infande (Paços de Ferreira, loan), Diego Lainez (Real Betis, end loan), Vitinha (Marseille)

Fiorentina

In: Josip Brekalo (Wolfsburg), Gaetano Castrovilli, Salvatore Sirigu (Napoli)
Out: Pierluigi Gollini (Atalanta, end loan), Youssef Maleh (Lecce, loan), Szymon Żurkowski (Spezia, loan)

Links and trivia 

Braga midfielder Iuri Medeiros played 13 games in Serie A while on loan at Genoa from Sporting CP in 2018, appearing alongside Fiorentina's Christian Kouamé.

Fiorentina striker Luka Jović played for Benfica from 2015 to 2017, where Braga's André Horta was a team-mate.

The Viola's Brazilian defender Dodô was on loan at Braga's local rivals Vitória Guimarães in 2018/19.

Jović, Fiorentina team-mate Aleksa Terzić and Braga's Uroš Račić had a short spell as Crvena zvezda club colleagues in 2016 and are also fellow Serbia internationals – as is Viola defender Nikola Milenković.

Braga boss Artur Jorge received a red card as his Portugal side lost 2-1 to Italy in a 1994 UEFA Under-21 European Championship qualifier.

Fiorentina's Sofyan Amrabat starred in Morocco's 1-0 defeat of Portugal in the 2022 FIFA World Cup quarter-final, Braga skipper Ricardo Horta appearing as a substitute for the European side.

Kouamé provided five assists in the UEFA Europa Conference League group stage – the most in the competition.

This tie is one of only two in the UEFA Europa Conference League knockout play-offs not involving a reigning domestic champion – the other AEK Larnaca versus Dnipro-1.