Fiorentina – Jagiellonia

The leader of the Polish championship will perform well in Florence.

Jagiellonia approached the first leg of the Conference League playoff round in fighting mood at their home arena. The team has good experience from last year's run in the tournament all the way to the quarterfinals, where they lost to the eventual finalists, Betis. And on the national stage the club from Białystok feels quite comfortable, confidently occupying first place. Why not try to knock out of the European tournament a club playing in one of the continent's top-5 divisions? However, in practice the Polish side ended up doing the opposite. The first half of the match in Białystok was a struggle with no sharp moments. Moreover, the Poles possessed the ball much more than their opponents, but did not manage to shoot on target even once. In the second half Jagiellonia collapsed spectacularly. While maintaining the same level of possession, the Poles repeatedly allowed counterattacks by guests from Florence. Paolo Vanoli's pupils squeezed the maximum, scoring three unanswered goals. It seems that the fight for a playoff place is over. Yet one should not forget one characteristic feature of Fiorentina that manifested itself in the 2022/2023 Conference League quarterfinals. Then the Violas won 4-1 away against Lech, after which during the home leg they were 0-3 up against the Poles and had to regroup. Bookmakers named the hosts as favorites for the upcoming match, offering odds of 1.50 on their victory. Jagiellonia on Sunday drew with Radomiak Radom — a mid-table side in the Polish Premier League. At the same time, the team remained in first place with a two-point cushion over Zagłębie and Lech behind it, and with one game in hand. There is no doubt that everyone in the Polish club understands the seriousness of the task for the Florence match, but the realities of Polish football are such that European competitions are treated as seriously as possible here. Even in those cases when the situation seems hopeless. Fiorentina, on the contrary, is currently thinking more about the Italian championship, where the Violas show signs of improving the situation. The team is still on the edge of the relegation zone, and in the match against the leader of the Polish championship in Florence its players will keep in mind the upcoming duel with Udinese.