Fiorentina vs Lech Poznań Europa Conference League quarter-final second leg preview: Where to watch, kick-off time, predicted line-ups
Thursday, April 20, 2023
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When is it? How can you watch it? What are the possible line-ups? All you need to know about the UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final second leg between Fiorentina and Lech Poznań.
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Fiorentina and Lech Poznań meet in their UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final second leg on Thursday 20 April.
Fiorentina vs Lech at a glance
When: Thursday 20 April (18:45 CET kick-off)
Where: Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence
What: UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final second leg (first leg 4-1)
How to follow: Build-up and live coverage can be found here
Winners face Basel or Nice in the semi-finals, playing the home leg first
Where to watch Fiorentina vs Lech
Fans can find their local UEFA Europa Conference League broadcast partner(s) here.
What do you need to know?
Runaway competition top scorers Fiorentina took their tally to 30 in Poznań, including a star turn from Nico González, who inadvertently set up Arthur Cabral's opener with a sublime strike before expertly heading in the visitors' second.
In between, though, Lech showed why they had been nine unbeaten in the UEFA Europa Conference League, scoring an excellent goal of their own when Kristoffer Velde drilled in a ruthless reply for his seventh goal in 14 appearances in this season's competition.
The Italian side looked as irresistible from there as they have done for much of the campaign; they now have the chance to avenge Lech's 2-1 win in Florence in the 2015/16 Europa League.
Predicted line-ups
Fiorentina: Terracciano; Venuti, Quarta, Igor, Biraghi; Castrovilli, Mandragora; González, Bonaventura, Saponara; Cabral
Misses next match if booked: Amrabat, Dodô, Milenković
Suspended: None
Lech: Bednarek; Pereira, Satka, Milić, Rebocho; Karlström, Murawski; Skóraś, Marchwiński, Velde; Ishak
Misses next match if booked: Ishak, Karlström, Rebocho, Szymczak
Suspended: Salamon
Form guide
Fiorentina
Form (all competitions, most recent first): DWDWWW
Where they stand: 9th in Italian Serie A
Lech
Form (all competitions, most recent first): DLWDWW
Where they stand: 3rd in Polish First Division
Expert prediction
Paolo Menicucci, match reporter
Fiorentina have won nine successive games in the competition and have more than one foot in the semi-finals after their 4-1 win in Poland. Vincenzo Italiano's team have always created plenty of chances but now they are taking them, scoring three or more in seven of their last nine. Arthur Cabral, meanwhile, has netted six in his last half-dozen appearances in the competition. Stopping the Viola on their route to Prague will not be an easy task for anybody, let alone Lech after the first leg.
What the coaches say
Vincenzo Italiano, Fiorentina coach: "Our attitude must not change. In Europe, anything can happen and we have to approach the match the same way we approached the first leg. We all have to be focused and pay attention. We will see how things are at the end of the match. The only thing that is certain for now is that we are ahead."
John van den Brom, Lech coach: "We expected so much from this game and now I am sitting here after a big loss. It will be very difficult for us to reach the semi-finals. I am really disappointed because our hopes were so high.
"Fiorentina are a very good team and tonight they proved it again. We did not play at our best and if you don't play at your best when you face Fiorentina, then you lose. They were simply too good for us tonight."
What happens next?
The winners advance to the semi-finals where they will face the victors of the Basel vs Nice tie.
The Eden Arena in Prague, Czechia (pictured above) will host this season's Europa Conference League final on 7 June 2023.