Last season's Europa Conference League runners-up Fiorentina host Puskas Academy in Thursday's playoff round first-leg at Stadio Artemio Franchi keen to notch a positive result ahead of next week's second leg.
The Viola have suffered painful losses in consecutive finals and seek another shot at the continental competition, but they must overcome the Hungarian side chasing history to advance to the main tournament.
Match preview
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Fiorentina return to the Conference League this Thursday, three months removed from another defeat in the final against Olympiacos, following their 2023 loss to West Ham United.
The Viola may be under new management, with Vincenzo Italiano no longer in situ, but several of Raffaele Palladino's men who suffered consecutive losses remain at the club.
The Serie A club's ambition to be third-time lucky begins this week on home turf against Hungarian opposition, keen to notch a positive outcome to avoid being eliminated before the competition proper.
Palladino's side began the new league season with a 1-1 draw at newly promoted Parma, and they seek their first success under the club's incumbent head coach.
To do that, the Viola must show something different from their top-flight opener, where they were perhaps fortunate to avoid losing at the Ennio Tardini having conceded several presentable goalscoring chances to the returning side.
That will be music to Puskas' ears, as they seek to record a historic triumph over the Italian side to advance to the main draw of any European competition for the first time.
Zsolt Hornyak's men advanced at Dnipro's expense in the second qualifying round after a forfeit before notching a crucial 1-0 away win over Ararat in the following round after playing out a 3-3 draw on their turf.
This season already counts as progress for the Hungarian side that had never gone beyond the second qualifying round in 2021-22 — lost 5-0 on aggregate to Latvian side RFS — and Vitoria Guimaraes in 2022-23 — lost 3-0 on aggregate — and they hope to stun the two-time Conference League runners-up on their first appearance in the playoff round.
They have reason to be optimistic that this year will be different from their previous two tries, with Fiorentina just starting their season and increasingly leaky defensively.
The Viola keeping one clean sheet throughout their pre-season, and that poor defensive run continuing against Parma and Puskas scoring in all six competitive matches this term should boost their motivation ahead of an uphill task in Florence.
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Team News
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The hosts have no reported injury issues heading into the match at the Artemio Franchi, giving Palladino a healthy squad for Thursday.
Sofyan Amrabat, on loan at Manchester United last season, is back in Florence, and the Moroccan should start for consecutive competitive games after playing from the off against Parma.
Lucas Beltran, uninvolved against Parma after his Olympic Games exertions with Argentina, could return to the XI keen to continue his decent form from last season — the 23-year-old netted four Conference League goals.
Puskas also have no injuries to worry about ahead of their visit to Florence, boosting Hornyak's men against the Viola.
Jonathan Levi, 28, is the Hungarian side's most menacing attacking player on paper, and the away side will look to the attacker to flourish over both legs.
Fiorentina possible starting lineup:
Terracciano; Quarta, Pongracic, Comuzzo; Dodo, Mandragora, Amrabat, Biraghi; Beltran, Kouame; Kean
Puskas Academy possible starting lineup:
Markek; Maceiras, Golla, Stronati, Markgraf; Favorov, Nissila; Komaromi, Levi, Naqy; Puljic
We say: Fiorentina 3-1 Puskas Academy
Despite Fiorentina's season just starting and Puskas' higher match sharpness, the Italian club's superior quality should tell in Florence as they secure a positive outcome going into the reverse fixture in Felcsut a week later.
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