Overview
Fiorentina once again revealed their defensive weakness when they almost paid a heavy price in the UEFA Europa Conference League play-offs. Despite leading 3-0 in the first leg at home, they still let Jagiellonia Bialystok drag the match into a tense situation, before winning a thrilling victory after extra time.
In Poland, Fiorentina played impressively and controlled the game, but in the second leg they lost the advantage and only regained the advantage thanks to a goal by Nicolo Fagioli in the 107th minute. The two teams continued to fight back in the final minutes, but Viola still won 5-4 overall to win a ticket to the round of 16, where they will face Rakow Czestochowa.
In the immediate future, coach Paolo Vanoli's team must focus on the Serie A front. Since taking over in November last year, Vanoli has gradually pulled Fiorentina out of the dangerous group. The 1-0 victory over Pisa helped them escape the relegation zone, in the context that 15/24 points of the team were won in the calendar year 2026.
After the 2-1 victory at Como Stadium, Fiorentina has a chance to win 2 consecutive away matches in Serie A for the first time since November 2024. Notably, the boost for their revival came from the 5-1 victory over Udinese in December, a match where the opponent lost a player early.
Recent history also does not favor Udinese. They lost 3/4 of their last home matches against Fiorentina, equal to the number of defeats in 18 previous receptions. The current form of the team led by coach Kosta Runjaic is also worrying. After two victories against Hellas Verona and AS Roma, Udinese has lost 3 consecutive matches, respectively against Lecce, Sassuolo and Bologna.
At home this season, Udinese has only won 4/13 matches, averaging 1 goal per match. However, they are still on the right track with the goal of safely staying in the bottom half of the rankings, as Runjaic maintains competitiveness and a relative gap with the relegation group.
Personnel situation
Due to having to play all 120 minutes in the middle of the week, Paolo Vanoli is likely to rotate Fiorentina's starting lineup.
3 players may be absent due to injury, including reserve goalkeeper Luca Lezzerini ( thigh), full-back Robin Gosens (face injury) and winger Manor Solomon (muscle). In addition, Dodo must serve a suspension.
Good news is that Albert Gudmundsson has returned from the bench in the match against Jagiellonia Bialystok and may start to support Moise Kean. Kean scored a double against Udinese at the beginning of the season and scored in the last 3 Serie A matches.
On Udinese's side, as key striker Keinan Davis has just returned from injury and is not in his best physical condition, Nicolo Zaniolo will be the biggest hope in attack. After a period of unsuccessful loan at Fiorentina last season, Zaniolo has scored 5 goals in Serie A this season - only one goal less than his career's best record (6 goals, 2020).
In addition to the long-term absence of Oumar Solet and Alessandro Zanoli, full-back Hassane Kamara has also not ensured fitness.
Expected lineup:
Okoye, Kristensen, Kabasele, Bertola, Ehizibue, Ekkelenkamp, Karlstrom, Atta, Zemura, Zaniolo, Buksa.
De Gea, Fortini, Comuzzo, Pongracic, Ranieri, Brescianini, Fagioli, Mandragora, Harrison, Kean, Gudmundsson.
The match between Udinese and Fiorentina takes place at 2:45 am on March 3rd (Vietnam time).
