Fiorentina take on the visitors Basel in the first leg of UEFA Conference League semifinals. The match will be played on Thursday, May 11th at Stadio Artemio Franchi (Florence).
Fiorentina performed well in Serie A last season, which was the first for Vincenzo Italiano after moving to Florence. He immediately took his team from the bottom of the Serie A table to 7th place. By now, it's clear that they won't be able to replicate such a feat again – the top third of the league has comfortably distanced itself from the pursuers. However, Fiorentina is compensating for this with successful performances in other tournaments, as they have a good chance of winning two trophies. Firstly, in April, after defeating Cremonese, the club managed to reach the Coppa Italia final. However, they will face an in-form opponent, Inter. In addition, the representative of Serie A has proven themselves in the Conference League. They entered the competition from the 7th position in Serie A in the 2021/2022 season. In the European tournament, the Italians eliminated Twente in the qualifiers and then collected 13 points in the group stage after a shaky start. In the playoffs, Fiorentina didn't face any particular difficulties and, furthermore, scored four goals in away matches against each of their opponents, Braga, Sivasspor, and Lech.
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Basel were undoubtedly the strongest team in Switzerland at the beginning of the century. However, in recent years, they have gradually been pushed into secondary roles. Against this backdrop, finishing as runners-up in 2022 seemed like a breakthrough. But these results couldn't be sustained, and there is a significant risk that the club will finish outside the group of leaders in the final league table of the national Super League, thus missing out on European competitions in the next campaign. Their cup run also ended in defeat against Young Boys. Essentially, only success in the Conference League allows this ambitious team to remain on the international stage in the autumn of 2023. The Swiss team's performance was inconsistent, as they even drew against Crusaders and lost to Brondby with Sofia's CSKA in the summer qualifiers. Moreover, in the group stage, two out of three of Basel's victories came against Punyik. Finally, in the playoffs, the team exchanged wins with Trabzonspor, and then all the matches against Slovan and Nice ended in draws during regular time. They were fortunate to win the penalty shootout in Bratislava and scored the decisive goal in extra time on the French Riviera.
The clubs have already crossed paths in the group stage of the Europa League in 2015. At that time, Basel, who were at their peak, won in Florence and drew the home match. Fiorentina appears to be more stable, and they will be playing at the Artemio Franchi Stadium. So, let's take the risk and bet on their victory with a one-goal handicap (-1 goal).
Prediction for the match: Fiorentina to win with -1.0 handicap.
