Good evening one and all! Following the return of top-level European football with the Champions League on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Europa League returns tonight and one of the ties of the round is this one between Fiorentina and Spurs!

Looks like a lovely day in Italy!

Welcome to @acffiorentina! We've arrived at Stadio Artemio Franchi and it's a glorious evening in Florence. #COYS pic.twitter.com/JYTDqhDdAa — Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 18, 2016

Given that this tie pits the third-best team in Italy against the second-best in England, you might have expected it to come much later in the competition, but after Fiorentina could only finish second in Group I behind Basel, they were one of the lower seeds in the last-32 draw and got Spurs for the second year in a row.

Anyway, before we take a look at the form and history of these two teams, let's bring you up to date on the team news reaching us from the Stadio Artemio Franchi...

SPURS XI: Vorm; Trippier, Alderweireld, Wimmer, Davies; Carroll, Mason; Eriksen, Alli, Son; Chadli

SPURS SUBS: McGee, Rose, Walker, Dembele, Dier, Onomah, Kane

Right then. The visitors show six changes from the huge 2-1 win over Premier League title rivals on Sunday. At the back, Hugo Lloris, Kyle Walker and Danny Rose are replaced by Michel Vorm, Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies, while in midfield it's Mousa Dembele and Eric Dier out for Ryan Mason and Tom Carroll. Top-scorer Harry Kane is also rested, so Nacer Chadli leads the line.

Big night for Mason as he skippers the side

.@RyanMason starts for first time since Nov 29 & captains the side on his return. One of six changes from Man City. pic.twitter.com/fpRCzZII7F — Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 18, 2016

FIORENTINA XI: Tatarusanu, Gonzalo, Tomovic, Astori, Alonso, Costa, Blaszczykowski, Borja, Zarate, Bernardeschi, Ilicic

FIORENTINA SUBS: Sepe, Pasqual, Badelj, Vecino, Fernandez, Kalinic, Babacar

Plenty of changes from the home side as well, with Nenad Tomovic, Alberto Costa and Mauro Zarate among those coming in.

Former Blackburn Rovers striker Nikola Kalinic, who reached the Europa League final with Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk last year, drops to the bench from the 2-1 Serie A win over Inter Milan.

Despite all the changes, plenty of recognisable faces in both sides. Premier League viewers will notice that Mauro Zarate starts after joining La Viola from West Ham last month. On Sunday he was sent off in added time against Inter after coming on as a second-half substitute.

🎙 Fancy something to listen to before kickoff? Well on this week's episode of The Dugout we previewed the Europa League and talked about what Spurs should do in the competition:

If you don't fancy listening to our insightful and thought-provoking opinions (how dare you!), then I'll quickly sum it up for you - with Spurs going so well in the league this season, the Europa League should really take a backseat, but Pochettino has still named a pretty strong team, even with star-man Kane on the bench. An injury to a player like Alderweireld, Eriksen or Alli tonight would be a huge blow in Spurs' push for a first Premier League crown.

Spurs come into this match on a seven-game winning streak in all competitions following that hugely-impressive 2-1 win at Man City on Sunday. With their North London rivals Arsenal beating Leicester in the last minute on the same day, Spurs, who have not won England's top division since 1961, are now just two points off the top in England.

Fiorentina had a big game themselves on Sunday and like Spurs won 2-1 against Inter Milan to cement their place in Serie A's top three behind front-running duo Juventus and Napoli. Both sides doing well in the league then, but who will strike the first blow in this European tie?

As mentioned, these two faced off in the last 32 12 months ago and on that occasion it was Fiorentina who played the first leg away from home, drawing 1-1 at White Hart Lane before sealing their progress with a 2-0 win in the return leg in Florence. La Viola went all the way to the semi-finals before getting thumped 5-0 on aggregate to eventual champions Sevilla, who have won this competition the last two years in a row.

© Getty Images

Less than 20 minutes until kickoff!

The warm-ups are in full swing as our lads go through their drills in front of our travelling fans. #COYS pic.twitter.com/18Ys2wQSBj

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 18, 2016

Fiorentina's two defeats in the group stage both came at home against Lech Poznan and Basel, but they have won four of their last five Serie A games here at the Stadio Artemio Franchi and they should be confident given Spurs' away record...

Spurs have won only one of their last five European away games and that was a far-from-convincing 1-0 success in Azerbaijan against Qarabag on matchday five. However, they are unbeaten in 12 away games in all competitions since a 2-1 loss at Anderlecht in October, winning the last five in a row!

STAT: Fiorentina have yet to lose – or concede a goal – in five home encounters with English opposition (W4 D1). Their record in ten UEFA games against English sides is W6 D2 L2.

Spurs are one of three English teams still in the Europa League and one of the others, Manchester United, also have a 6pm kickoff in Denmark against Midtjylland. If you want to follow that game as well, then open this link in a new tab to join my colleague Matt Law.

PREDICTION: Less than 10 minutes until kickoff in Florence, time for my pre-match prediction. I think Spurs will hope to keep it tight in the first leg and not give too much away, so chances could be at a premium and I'll go for a 1-1 draw.

Fiorentina's manager is Paulo Sousa and he is enjoying his time in Italy having not had much success in England during brief stints in charge of QPR, Swansea and Leicester between 2008 and 2010.

Right then! The two teams have just exited the tunnel at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, with German referee Felix Swayer leading the sides out.

Ryan Mason has just done one of the oddest coin tosses of all time in the centre circle. Bizarre technique from the stand-in Spurs captain! Anyway, that's not important. Spurs all in white tonight, with Fiorentina in their traditional purple.

KICKOFF! Aaaand we're off under the lights in Florence.

Plenty of empty seats at the Stadio Artemio Franchi

The teams are on the pitch in Florence! Kick-off just moments away now. Come on you Spurs!!! #COYS pic.twitter.com/CsC4bDT14l

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 18, 2016

Teenage midfielder Alli has impressed on so many occasions this season and he's had a bright start tonight. He just nutmegged Tomovic down the left before Rodriguez came across and nicked the ball off him as he tried an elaborate 'Maradona' turn in the box.

Alderweireld looks for Chadli over the top and the flag stayed down there! Unfortunately for Spurs, it was just too long and skidded off the surface through to goalkeeper Tatarusanu.

Fiorentina win the first corner of the match, but nothing comes of it as Swayer blows his whistle to give Spurs a free kick for an infringement of some kind.

Alli with a nice incisive pass into Chadli, but the Belgian cannot bring the ball under control. It's been a really positive start from the visitors, who are seeing loads of the ball. Fiorentina happy to sit back, though.

Spurs right-back Trippier loves getting forward down the right and he's just tried to find Chadli with a low cross, but the latter was flagged offside. The home crowd are getting pretty restless here, their team has barely had the ball!

First moment of note for the home side as Carroll gives the ball away in midfield. Blaszczykowski got the loose ball and had a pop from outside the box, but it didn't get through the Spurs defence as Alderweireld made the block.

Alli surges into the Fiorentina half and he's wiped out just as he played the pass out to Son, who eventually was crowded out. Would not be surprised if Swayer comes back to book the player who took out Alli.

Nope, no card even though that was a really late challenge on Alli. Our first clean shot of the game just happened through Zarate, but it was well over the top.

Even though they are yet to carve out any clear-cut opportunities, Pochettino will be delighted at how comfortable his side have been. They've had almost 60% possession in the first 20 minutes.

BOOKING! Yellow this time for Astori, who slid in and brought down Alli as the teenager looked to start a counter-attack.

Almost for Spurs as Son bundles his way past two tackles in the area before eventually losing possession. Alli is having more and more of an influence in midfield as he strings play together.

It's really hard to put in a short update just how comfortable the visitors look here, but with Eriksen and Alli in particular keen to get on the ball whenever they can and spray passes about, Fiorentina look second-best at the moment.

SHOT! Ping! Great hit from Eriksen about 25 yards out and Tatarusanu has to tip it over for a corner.

Terrible clearance by Tatarusanu and Carroll hits it first time into Eriksen's path. The Dane is onside in the box, but he can't take it in his stride and get off a shot. Fiorentina survive.

BOOKING! Dele Alli you lucky boy! The teenager could easily be sent off here after booting Tomovic in the stomach after the right-back saw the ball out of play with Alli trying to keep it in. Swayer books him, so he must have seen the incident and if he did so, he could have easily sent off the England international.

CHANCE! What a chance for Fiorentina! Superb cross from the right by Ilicic that Bernardeschi somehow fails to poke home from about four yards. The ball fell to Zarate, but he could only shoot wide under pressure. Best chance of the match by a mile.

Spurs had looked so good for half an hour, but now they're lucky to not have had Alli sent off or conceded a goal!

PENALTY TO SPURS! Tomovic clips Davies in the box!

Spurs get an away goal! Chadli sends Tatarusanu the wrong way from 12 yards after Tomovic's silly lung on Davies, who was about to run into a group of bodies in the box. No need to go to ground like that.

UPDATE: And there's been a goal in Denmark too, with Memphis giving United the lead at Midtjylland.

Alli stays down after Costa raised an elbow and caught the youngster just below the neck as he tried to run past. Didn't look like much in real-time, but in slow-motion there was no need for the Fiorentina man to catch Alli like that. Dangerous play.

Excellent build-up once again from Spurs, but crosses into the box haven't really worked so far. Without Kane in the middle, it's hard to see them scoring like that.

CHANCE! Decent opportunity for Fiorentina to equalise just before half time, but Zarate spoons over the top from Blaszczykowski's cutback.

Just the one minute of added time...

Spurs in front at the break then thanks to Chadli's 37th-minute penalty. Pochettino's men were the better side for much of the game, but Fiorentina have had a couple of good openings and Alli could have easily got a straight red for kicking out at Tomovic. The youngster has been one of Spurs' best players, but he's also made a couple of silly challenges and Pochettino might just take him off to not risk him seeing red. Back soon for the second half!

Here's the moment Spurs went in front in Florence

Here is the goal that separates the sides at the break. @NChadli sends Tatarusanu the wrong way from the spot. #COYS pic.twitter.com/9OHTaIQGS0

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 18, 2016

SPURS SUB: Half-time change from the visitors, but it's not Alli off. Carroll is replaced by Dembele, who will only strengthen the Spurs midfield.

KICKOFF! Aaand we're back underway.

Spurs win a free kick in a good crossing position on the right within a few seconds...

DISALLOWED! Son heads home at the near post, but it's ruled out for offside.

Good call it was from the linesman as well. Son should have kept his eye on the line and made sure that he didn't stray ahead of the play.

BOOKING! Spurs left-back Davies into the book for tripping up Blaszczykowski. Not much in that, just a trip. Davies didn't go to ground and a booking seems really harsh.

Alonso does really well to reach a ball over the top before it goes out and his cutback is met by Zarate, whose shot is on target until Wimmer diverts it out for a corner.

Woeful attempt to punch the ball clear from Vorm, but Alli volleys high into the night sky to spare his keeper's blushes.

Astori, who was booked in the first half, has committed two early fouls in the second half and must be careful.

CLOSE! Dembele with a wonderful touch and then turn of pace in the middle. He feeds Chadli, who cuts inside his man before having his cheeky attempt towards the near post kept out by Tatarusanu.

SHOT! Superb from Alli as he turns away from two Fiorentina players before finding Son. The Korean turns quickly and shoots wide from 25 yards when a return pass to Alli or finding the unmarked Trippier out wide would have been better options.

With Spurs dominating this second half like they did the first, Pochettino will want a second goal which might just kill off Fiorentina's hopes in this tie. Two away goals for the North London outfit would put them in a fabulous position.

Out of nowhere, Fiorentina are level! Bernardeschi has a pop from about 30 yards and it takes a slight nick of Mason's boot to loop up and over Vorm and in off the underside of the crossbar.

At the other end Alli is charged into by Rodriguez, but referee Zwayer says no penalty.

FIORENTINA SUBS: Two changes from the home side, with Badelj and Kalinic on for Ilicic and Blaszczykowski.

All of a sudden Fiorentina look up for this. They did very little in the opening hour, but Bernardeschi's flukey equaliser means that they are right in this now.

Alonso with half a chance on his weaker right foot as he curls high and wide. Fiorentina a completely different animal after the leveller.

BOOKING! Dembele the latest Spurs player to be cautioned for a high tackle on Badelj.

FIORENTINA SUB: That's all three subs made by the home side as Vecino takes Costa's place in midfield.

SPURS SUB: Here come Harry! Kane replaces Son, so Chadli will drop back into midfield.

Nice ball through to Kalinic from Zarate, but the Croat cannot return it to his teammate on the edge of the box.

Better from Spurs as Chadli works the ball out to Trippier, but the right-back's cross is deflected up into the air and Tatarusanu collects.

SHOT! Vecino tries his luck from distance and it's well-hit, but Vorm makes a comfortable save.

Easy save for Tatarusanu as Kane tries to open his body and bend for the far corner. Fifteen minutes to go and either side could win this, but you feel that Fiorentina need a win more than Spurs do.

UPDATE: Man Utd fall 2-1 down to Midtjylland!

SPURS SUB: Pochettino bolsters the midfield, taking off goalscorer Chadli for Dier.

Neat interplay down the left from Spurs before Kane switches play out to Trippier. The right-back decides against crossing into the middle, instead laying it back for Dier, whose shot goes out for a corner.

Worrying signs for Spurs and England fans as Alli stays down for a long time before eventually getting up to his feet. He's still limping though and Spurs have already made their three changes.

Trippier blocks Alonso's cross out for a corner. Fiorentina finishing the stronger here, can they find a winner?

CLOSE! Ooooh, what an effort! Trippier delivers a good cross from the right and Alli meets it with an acrobatic volley that flies over the top.

SHOT! Vorm dives low to his left to parry Zarate's firm shot towards the corner.

MISS! Fiorentina should be in front! Rodriguez gets up well to meet the resulting corner and somehow flicks wide from close range when scoring was easier!

SAVE! Just after three minutes are added on, Zarate dips a spectacular volley towards goal. Vorm saves, and holds, well, but the ball was actually dropping wide.

BOOKING! Odd one this as Kane is booked for what looked like running into Rodriguez.

All over at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, with Fiorentina producing a much-improved second-half display to prove my pre-match prediction exactly right - 1-1! In the end Spurs will be happy with that scoreline, but at one point it looked like they might be taking an advantage to the second leg next Thursday.

Still, Pochettino's side have an away goal to bring to White Hart Lane and they will undoubtedly start as favourites to progress. That's all from me, so I'll point you in the direction of Augsburg vs. Liverpool if you want more Europa League action. Enjoy!