FC Basel 1893 vs Fiorentina Preview

 



Seeking to overturn a 2-1 first-leg deficit, Fiorentina travel to Switzerland to face Basel at St Jakob-Park for the second leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final on Thursday night.

A place in next month's showpiece event in Prague is up for grabs, with the victors of this contest to face either AZ Alkmaar or West Ham United.

Basel were staring down the barrel of defeat, albeit a slender one, when they entered the closing stages of last week's first-leg tie with Fiorentina, with Arthur Cabral's 25th-minute opener against his former club putting the Italian side in control.

However, the Swiss outfit managed to complete a remarkable turnaround in the final 20 minutes courtesy of a stunning solo goal from Andy Diouf and a dramatic 92nd-minute winner from Zeki Amdouni – his sixth goal in as many matches in the competition.

FCB became the first team from Switzerland to win a semi-final tie in a major European competition since Grasshopper against Bastia in the 1977-78 UEFA Cup, and Heiko Vogel's side remain on course to become the first-ever Swiss club to reach a major European final.

Basel are still yet to lose against Fiorentina, winning two and drawing one of their three meetings and scoring twice on each occasion, and they can be confident of further success against the Italian side having progressed from all six major European knockout ties when winning the first leg away from home.