Fiorentina take on the visitors Celje in the second leg of UEFA Conference League round of quarterfinals. First leg result: 2-1. The match will be played on Thursday, April 17th at Stadio Artemio Franchi (Florence).
Fiorentina had been playing under Vincenzo Italiano in recent years. At first, the results under him — an 8th-place finish in Serie A and a run to the Conference League final (albeit a losing one) — were seen as clear progress compared to previous seasons. But when both outcomes repeated in 2023/2024, ambitious fans and club management began to see this as a sign of stagnation. As a result, Italiano was replaced by Raffaele Palladino. It’s still too early to predict how the domestic campaign will finish — the competition is tight, and Fiorentina have been inconsistent, so they could either fall below last season’s finish or even challenge for the top four. In Europe, they narrowly survived a penalty shootout against Puskás Akadémia in the qualifiers, then collected 13 points in the group stage to go straight to the Round of 16. After losing 3-2 away to Panathinaikos, they responded with a solid 3-1 win at home to go through. They followed that with a narrow but valuable 2-1 victory in Slovenia. Fiorentina are unbeaten in their last six European matches and have scored at least two goals in five of those.
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Celje have gone much further than anyone expected. Grofje are not considered a heavyweight even in Slovenia. But in 2024, they were crowned national champions for just the second time, ending a four-year wait. Their European season began predictably — they beat Estonia’s Flora in the Champions League qualifiers but were then crushed by Slovan Bratislava after a draw at home. They also fell short in the Europa League qualifiers, scoring one goal less than Shamrock Rovers and missing out. Even against Pyunik in the Conference League playoffs, they struggled but ultimately scraped through. Since then, they’ve managed to grind out results — seven points were enough to progress from the group stage, and they beat APOEL 2-0 in Cyprus after a draw at home, then eliminated Lugano on penalties. Against Fiorentina, however, they were clearly outclassed — after conceding twice, they did manage to pull one back, but it wasn’t enough. Celje have now won only once in their last five European outings. They’ve also conceded in eight straight matches in all competitions.
The clubs will meet for just the second time ever in Florence — the first leg was played a week earlier. Fiorentina are clearly the superior side and should win just as comfortably at home as they did away. Back them with a -1.5 goal handicap.
Prediction for the match: Fiorentina to win with -1.5 handicap.
