Fiorentina v Belenenses background

ACF Fiorentina's home form is a cause for concern as Os Belenenses come to Florence hoping for a win to take them to the UEFA Europa League round of 32.

• A draw will be enough to secure Fiorentina's place in the round of 32, due to their head-to-head record against KKS Lech Poznań.

• To progress at their hosts' expense, Belenenses must win and hope Lech do not beat FC Basel 1893.

• In the event that Lech and Belenenses finish level on eight points, goal difference – and then goals scored – would separate them since the sides have an identical head-to-head record.

Previous meetings
• Fiorentina won 4-0 in Lisbon when the sides met for the first time in UEFA competition on matchday two. It was Belenenses' first encounter with Italian opponents, and their heaviest home defeat in UEFA competition – as well as the Viola's biggest UEFA Cup or UEFA Europa League away success.

• Fiorentina's 11 games against Portuguese teams have ended W4 D4 L3 (W2 D2 L1 at home). They are unbeaten in their last five fixtures against Liga clubs (W2 D3).

Form guide
• Fiorentina have lost both of their Group I home games by the same 2-1 scoreline, and have lost their last three UEFA home fixtures.

• Belenenses are unbeaten in four away games in Europe this season (W2 D2). Four of their nine games in Europe this season have ended goalless, and they have scored in only one of their Group I games to date – a 2-1 win at FC Basel 1893 on matchday three.

• Fiorentina have made it through to the round of 32 in all three of their previous UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns.

• Belenenses are making their UEFA group stage debut. At ten games, this is the longest campaign in their European history.

Trivia and links
• The journey from Lisbon to Florence is around 1,800km.

• Fiorentina striker Giuseppe Rossi can make his 50th UEFA club competition appearance in this game. He has scored 24 goals in his first 49 UEFA outings.

• Fiorentina midfielder Matías Fernández played for Sporting Clube de Portugal from 2009 to 2012 – his coach there for a time was Belenenses boss Ricardo Sá Pinto. He also played alongside Belenenses's Tonel and Betinho in Lisbon.

• Belenenses's Gonçalo Brandão played in Italy for AC Siena, Parma FC and AC Cesena from 2008 to 2013.

• Fiorentina striker Nikola Kalinić was a losing UEFA Europa League finalist with FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk last season.

The coaches
• A European champion as a player with Juventus (1996) and Borussia Dortmund (1997), former Portugal midfielder Paulo Sousa joined Fiorentina in June. He is on the hunt for a third league title in as many seasons, having won the 2013/14 Israeli crown with Maccabi Tel Aviv FC and the Swiss top flight last term with Basel.

• Ricardo Sá Pinto returned to Portugal to take charge of Belenenses in the summer, following two years abroad with FK Crvena zvezda, OFI Crete and Atromitos FC. He had earlier coached Sporting, the side where he made his name and where he was a losing UEFA Cup finalist in 2005.