Having lost last season's final to a gut-wrenching last-gasp goal, Fiorentina return to the Europa Conference League on Thursday, when they play the first leg of their playoff tie against Rapid Vienna.
La Viola just missed out to West Ham United in June, but they are back for another shot at European glory; however, Rapid still stand between them and a place in the group stage.
Match preview
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When Giacomo Bonaventura's expertly-taken finish nestled in the back of West Ham's net during last term's Europa Conference League final, it seemed that Fiorentina could on the way to major silverware for the first time in a couple of decades.
However, his equaliser was ultimately not enough to take a tense encounter into extra time, and the Viola's 2-1 defeat ended a season of what-might-have-beens: they also lost out in the Coppa Italia decider to Inter Milan.
The side that finished eighth in Serie A, following an inconsistent campaign, were later handed a lifeline, though, as a one-year UEFA ban for Juventus opened the door to a Conference League return in 2023-24.
After completing their pre-season preparations, Fiorentina were back in competitive action on Saturday, laying down a marker of intent for the months ahead. Less than five minutes into the new Serie A season, captain Cristiano Biraghi surged into the Genoa area before slamming home the opening goal of a 4-1 first-day win at Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
Having gone four goals up before the hour mark against their freshly promoted opponents, Vincenzo Italiano's men will now aim to carry that momentum into their continental campaign, which kicks off at Vienna's Allianz Stadion this week.
Italiano - who has lost the goals of Arthur Cabral this summer, but brought in Lucas Beltran and M'Bala Nzola as replacements - will be all too aware that Thursday's contest will not be straightforward, particularly as Fiorentina won just six of their away games in the league last season.
While the Tuscan club have only just begun their 2023-24 campaign in earnest, Rapid Vienna are already four matches in to the new Austrian Bundesliga season, after a five-goal thumping of promoted Blau-Weiss Linz at the weekend left them five points adrift of inevitable league leaders Red Bull Salzburg.
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup runners-up twice towards the end of the 21st century, Rapid have a rich history in European competition, but they have more recently been overshadowed by Salzburg's utter dominance, finishing a distant fourth and fifth over the past two years.
Die Grun-Weissen overcame Debrecen with a 5-0 aggregate win in the Conference League's third qualifying round: after being held to a goalless draw on home turf, they scored with each of their shots on target in last week's second leg.
Formerly a midfielder for the club, Rapid boss Zoran Barisic must now pit his wits against one of Italy's most admired tacticians over the course of two playoff legs, with a league game against WSG Tirol sandwiched in between.
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Team News
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As Vincenzo Italiano has been able to build a deeper squad since arriving in Florence two years ago, on Thursday he could make several changes to the Fiorentina side which comfortably took care of business in Genoa.
While Sofyan Amrabat's future remains up in the air, Arthur Melo impressed on his Viola debut and could continue in midfield; Gaetano Castrovilli is still sidelined by injury.
Up front, Lucas Beltran may replace M'Bala Nzola, but star man Nicolas Gonzalez - who bagged a brace in last season's semi-final win over Basel - should be retained. Although Luka Jovic joins Amrabat in being left out, Christian Kouame is now available after serving a Serie A suspension.
Rapid Vienna, meanwhile, will turn to former Schalke striker Guido Burgstaller to lead their front line at Allianz Stadion: the hosts' captain was among the goals against Debrecen last week and netted twice at the weekend.
Key defender Nenad Cvetkovic is set to miss out on Thursday, after he was withdrawn during the first half at Blau-Weiss Linz. The Serbian's replacement was Maximilian Hofmann, who should now be promoted to the starting XI against Fiorentina.
Rapid Vienna possible starting lineup:
Hedl; Schick, Querfeld, Hofmann, Auer; Kerschbaum, Sattlberger; Oswald, Seidl, Grull; Burgstaller
Fiorentina possible starting lineup:
Christensen; Dodo, Milenkovic, Ranieri, Biraghi; Arthur, Mandragora; Gonzalez, Bonaventura, Kouame; Beltran
We say: Rapid Vienna 1-2 Fiorentina
Rapid Vienna may have rattled home 10 goals in their last two matches, but they now step up a few levels against a fluent Fiorentina side. The visitors can call upon several creators to open up their Austrian hosts, and if their new strikeforce can settle well, they should show why they are among the favourites to lift the Conference League trophy next summer.
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Jonathan O'Shea
