Fiorentina-Basilea is a match valid for the first leg of the Conference League semifinals and is played Thursday at 9 p.m.: TV, likely formations, predictions.
Florentin dreams of emulating last year’s Roma, writing in the roll of honor of the “very young” Conference League the name of another Italian team. Starting from the preliminaries last August, the Viola has confirmed that it also has a European dimension, pushing through to a historic semifinal, its third in the last 15 years.
The liliati really believe in it and it is no coincidence that even the bookmakers in the antepost odds consider them as the favorites to win the cup, even ahead of England’s West Ham, who in the other semifinal will take on the fearsome Dutch side Az Alkmaar. On the road to Prague, the site of the final, for Vincenzo Italiano’s men is Basel, a team that somewhat surprisingly made it to the top four, managing to right a troubled season in extremis, to say the least. Even Fiorentina in Serie A paid for too many ups and downs and a first part of the championship in which the missteps were by no means few, probably children of the fatigues of the double commitment. The long streak of victories obtained at the turn of February and April was not enough to at least re-enter the top seven in the standings, to at least try to repeat last year’s result. Today, the Viola is in the group of teams fighting for a symbolic eighth place, and the only way to play in Europe again next year is to win one of the two competitions in which Biraghi and his teammates are still key players: the Conference League and the Coppa Italia. In fact, Fiorentina will contest the prestigious domestic title against Inter on May 24 in the last act at the Stadio Olimpico: there, too, if they win, they will qualify for the Europa League.
Fiorentina with two faces
Italian now thinks of nothing but the cups, and this is shown by the fact that in the last few days of the championship he has gone overboard with rotations in an attempt to preserve the best.
Adams
The only success, from six games to date, came against the disastrous Sampdoria, just relegated to the cadetteria. The five goals scored in the match with the Blucerchiati offset the numerous goals conceded from the return match with Lech Poznan onwards. Fiorentina’s defense has been treading water again for about a month now, conceding a beauty ten goals in the last six outings. The Viola took a big risk against the Poles at the “Franchi.” What was supposed to be a very quiet encounter after the 4-1 win in the first leg was about to turn into a nightmare. Fiorentina, down by three goals a handful of minutes from the final whistle, saved themselves in extremis from extra danger thanks to Sottil and Castrovilli, advancing to the next round despite a crude 2-3 defeat. A match, the one with Lech, that should serve as a warning ahead of the two challenges with the Swiss.
Basel not to be underestimated
Compared to recent seasons, this is not a great Basel – in the league it is only fifth, within striking distance of the leading Young Boys, and in danger of staying out of Europe as well – but it remains a tricky team and not to be underestimated.
Fiorentina must not make the same mistake as Nice, which after making it 2-2 in the first leg got mocked in the return leg in front of its own public, conceding the decisive goal by Adams (1-2) in extra time. The team coached by Germany’s Heiko Vogel had also qualified by the skin of its teeth in the previous two rounds with Trabzonspor — rebounded after losing the first leg — and Slovan Bratislava. Distracted by their cup commitment, the Helvetians last Sunday cashed in their second defeat in the last four Super League days, losing 2-0 at home to Zurich. Vogel in Florence will have to do without Comas, Frei, Sene, Sergio Lopez and Onyegbule, but he will be able to count on the two most decisive players, Aimdouni (danger number one for the purple defense) and Zeqiri. Former Roma player Calafiori should play in defense. Italian without Sottil and the disqualified Milenkovic. The only ballot is between Igor and Ranieri. He immediately recovered the great former of the challenge, Arthur Cabral, who in January 2022 arrived just from Basel.
The prediction
Florentin has more quality and is overall superior to Basel but everything will depend on the attitude of the Viola, a team that does not always manage to express itself at the highest level. We hypothesize in any case a victory for the Gigliati in a match in which, however, the Swiss could also find the way of the goal, keeping the qualification games open.
The probable formations of Fiorentina-Basilea
- FIORENTINA (4-2-3-1): Terracciano; Dodô, Martinez Quarta, Igor, Biraghi; Amrabat, Mandragora; González, Bonaventura, Ikoné; Cabral.
- BASILEA (3-4-2-1): Hitz; Lang, Adams, Calafiori; Ndoye, Xhaka, Burger, Millar; Males, Amdouni; Zeqiri.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
