Overview
With the goal of winning a ticket to the semi-finals, Fiorentina must play away at Crystal Palace's stadium in the first leg of the Europa Conference League quarter-finals.
However, the Italian representative conceded two goals before halftime and closed the match with a 0-3 defeat, making the risk of stopping in the quarter-finals clear before the second leg next week.
Fiorentina is now forced to focus on the relegation battle in Serie A. Coach Paolo Vanoli's team is in the dangerous group as the season enters a decisive stage with 7 remaining rounds.
Fiorentina's recent form shows signs of improvement. They have won half of the matches since the beginning of February and especially improved the quality of defense by keeping a clean sheet in 3/6 recent matches, compared to only 1 time in the previous 20 matches.
The 1-0 victory over Hellas Verona last week is proof of this revival. In the immediate future, Fiorentina will host Lazio at Stadio Franchi, with the goal of winning their third consecutive victory against this opponent.
Recent history is supporting the home team when Lazio has lost 3/4 of their recent encounters, and the remaining match was a 2-2 draw at the beginning of the season.
On the other side, Lazio was just held to a draw by Parma, thereby ending a rare three-match winning streak and increasing the total number of draws this season to 11.
Currently ranked ninth, they are 13 points behind AS Roma and almost only have a chance to participate in European cups through the Coppa Italia. Coach Maurizio Sarri is likely to prioritize the cup arena, as Lazio prepares to play in the Coppa Italia semi-finals against Atalanta.
In Serie A, the capital team only averages 1.42 points/match - Sarri's second worst record in his coaching career in this league.
However, Lazio still possesses the ability to explode at the end of the match. Including Pedro's equalizer in January, they scored 38% of the goals in the last 15 minutes of this season's match - the highest rate in Serie A.
This shows that the away team can completely create a surprise at Franchi, especially in decisive moments.
Personnel situation
Although Manor Solomon is about to return after injury, Fiorentina still suffered significant losses when two key players, Albert Gudmundsson and Nicolo Fagioli, were suspended for the next match.
In addition, Niccolo Fortini is still in the process of recovering from injury. However, the home team may welcome good news when Fabiano Parisi and key striker Moise Kean are likely to be on time if they pass the final fitness test.
In the context that the attack has not reached its best condition, Roberto Piccoli may continue to be given the opportunity to start. Especially when Kean still has persistent problems with his tibia in recent weeks.
In the defense, Robin Gosens - who scored in the first leg - continues to be a remarkable support, as he has directly participated in 7 goals against Lazio in Serie A. On the opposite flank, Dodo is likely to take on the right-back position.
On Lazio's side, the force situation is also not optimistic. The away team will be missing their number one goalkeeper Ivan Provedel and captain Mattia Zaccagni due to injuries.
In addition, center-back Samuel Gigot (long-term) and creative midfielder Nicolo Rovella are also unable to participate. The trio Patric, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Mario Gila still need more time to check before deciding their ability to play.
In attack, Daniel Maldini is often prioritized over Peter Ratkov and Boulaye Dia in the center forward position. However, the Italian striker's absence from recent training sessions leaves his ability to play still open.
Expected lineup:
De Gea, Dodo, Pongracic, Ranieri, Gosens, Ndour, Mandragora, Brescianini, Harrison, Piccoli, Fazzini.
Motta, Marusic, Romagnoli, Provstgaard, Tavares, Dele-Bashiru, Cataldi, Taylor, Isaksen, Dia, Noslin.
The match between Fiorentina and Lazio takes place at 1:45 am on April 14 (Vietnam time).