Tottenham v Fiorentina background

For the second season in a row, Tottenham Hotspur FC and ACF Fiorentina go into the return leg of their UEFA Europa League round of 32 tie level at 1-1.

Previous meetings
• Tottenham midfielder Nacer Chadli put the north London outfit ahead in the first leg with a 37th-minute penalty. The Viola earned a draw courtesy of Federico Bernardeschi's long-range strike just before the hour, the hosts' first shot on target. 

• The clubs met in the 2014/15 round of 32, Vincenzo Montella's Viola drawing 1-1 at White Hart Lane before eliminating Mauricio Pochettino's Spurs with a 2-0 win in Florence.

• The teams for that last encounter in London, on 19 February 2015, were:
Tottenham: Lloris, Walker, Vertonghen, Paulinho (Mason 84), Soldado, Townsend (Lamela 73), Fazio, Chadli (Kane 66), Eriksen, Davies, Bentaleb.
Fiorentina: Tătăruşanu, Rodríguez, Pizarro, Matías Fernández, Savić, Joaquín, Basanta, Valero (Badelj 78), Pasqual (Alonso 66), Gomez (Iličić 85), Salah.

• The sides' only previous meetings had been in two pre-season friendlies in London, Spurs prevailing 3-0 in 2001 and 3-2 in 2010.

• Spurs' 14 UEFA fixtures against Italian teams have ended W4 D6 L4 (W3 D3 L0 in London).

• Fiorentina's record in 11 UEFA games against English sides is W6 D3 L2 (W2 D1 L2 in England).

Form guide
• Spurs are unbeaten in eight European home games (W6 D2) since a 3-1 loss to SL Benfica in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League round of 16.

• Fiorentina are unbeaten away from home in Europe this season (W2 D1), scoring eight goals in those three contests.

• Spurs are through to the round of 32 for the fourth season in succession, with Fiorentina the only team to deny them a round of 16 place during that run. Spurs won the UEFA Cup in 1972 and 1984, having earlier claimed the 1963 European Cup Winners' Cup.

• The Viola lost to eventual winners Sevilla FC in last season's UEFA Europa League semi-finals. They reached the 1990 UEFA Cup final but succumbed to Juventus over two legs. Their only major European title remains the 1961 European Cup Winners' Cup, where they beat Rangers FC in the final.

Trivia and links
• The journey from Florence to London is around 1,200km.

• Fiorentina midfielder Milan Badelj turns 27 on the day of the match.

• Fiorentina were the most fouled side in this season's UEFA Europa League group stage, with 105 infringements against them. However, they also received the most red cards: three.

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

• Fiorentina's Marcos Alonso (Bolton Wanderers FC, Sunderland AFC), Kalinić (Blackburn Rovers FC), Giuseppe Rossi (Manchester United FC, Newcastle United FC) and Borja Valero (West Bromwich Albion FC) have played in England.

• Erik Lamela is the sole Tottenham player with Serie A experience, having represented AS Roma from 2011 to 2013.

The coaches
• Mauricio Pochettino has been manager of Tottenham since summer 2014, the former RCD Espanyol and Paris Saint-Germain defender brought to London after an impressive 18 months at Southampton FC. The 43-year-old was capped 20 times by Argentina, featuring at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

• 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.

• Sousa managed in England from 2008 to 2010, leading Queens Park Rangers FC, Swansea City AFC and Leicester City FC.

Penalty shoot-outs
• Spurs' record in three UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W1 L2 (W1 at home – L2 away):
W 4-3 H v RSC Anderlecht (1983/84 UEFA Cup final)
L 6-5 A v PSV Eindhoven (2007/08 UEFA Cup round of 16)
L 4-1 A v FC Basel 1893 (2012/13 UEFA Europa League quarter-finals)

• Fiorentina's record in five UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W3 L2 (W3 D1 at home – L1 away). That total includes an unprecedented three in the 2007/08 campaign (W2 L1):
L 3-1 A v Boavista FC (1986/87 UEFA Cup first round)
W 3-1 H v Club Atlético de Madrid (1989/90 UEFA Cup first round)
W 4-3 H v FC Groningen (2007/08 UEFA Cup first round)
W 4-2 H Everton FC (2007/08 UEFA Cup round of 16)
L 4-2 H v Rangers FC (2007/08 UEFA Cup semi-finals)