Fiorentina knocked the English side out of the competition last season, and again face Tottenham at Artemio Franchi in the first leg of Europa League last-32 tie on Thursday.
Arguably the tie of the Europa League round is Tottenham Hotspur, hot off a streak in the Premier League that last week saw them beat Manchester City, against Fiorentina, the Italian team who eliminated them from the competition last season and currently sits third in Serie A.
There are many similarities between the duo. The Viola, like their White Hart Lane rivals, consistently find themselves in the Europa League despite pushing for further glory, something that this season is within both sides’ grasp.
Fiorentina are currently third in Serie A, eight points behind leaders Juventus, and seven behind Napoli. They beat Inter 2-1 on last weekend with goals by Borja and Babacar. They are unbeaten in their last five games. Having drawn two of those games, the home side will be very wary of Spurs’ recent run of seven consecutive wins in league and cup games.
Fiorentina were placed in a debatably average group to start the competition, with the likes of FC Basel, Lech Poznan and Belenenses. They climbed out finishing second place to the Swiss giants Basel. They managed to escape with 10 points, with two shock losses to Lech Poznan and Basel – both at home.
Tottenham have won their last seven competitive games and their latest league win at Manchester City has Pochettino’s side sharing second place with Arsenal, two points behind leaders Leicester City. Tottenham won their last three Europa League games to finish top of Group J with 13 points from a possible 18.
The Spurs have looked nothing short of sensational in the past few weeks, but the question is whether they’ll take the Europa League as seriously as they should, given they’re in the middle of a Premier League title push and could do without the added strain of European matches.
Resting one or two key players against Fiorentina could prove the difference on the domestic level, but it could also prove fatal against the Italians, who showed last year they match up with Spurs just fine.
Head to head
Fate has a funny way of placing two distant teams together, and having never crossed paths in competitive fixtures before last season, we now look forward to the second consecutive round of 32 meeting between Tottenham Hotspur and Fiorentina.
Drawing 1-1 in the first leg in North London, Fiorentina cruised through 3-1 on aggregate as Mohamed Salah and Mario Gomez scored to dump out Spurs. After eliminating Tottenham at this stage last season, Fiorentina went on to the semi-final of last year’s Europa League, beaten 3-0 away by eventual winners Sevilla and 2-0 at home.
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 (W2 D1 L2 in England). Meanwhile, Spurs’ 13 UEFA fixtures against Italian teams have ended W4 D5 L4 (W3 D3 L0 in London – W1 D2 L4 in Italy). That lone away win was a 1-0 success at AC Milan in a 2010/11 UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie.
Match Facts
- Spurs met Fiorentina in last season’s last 32, losing 3-1 on aggregate after an initial 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane.
- Fiorentina are unbeaten in four European games against English opposition (W3 D1), with two of those coming against Spurs last season.
- This will be the fourteenth meeting between Spurs and an Italian side in European competition, the north Londoners winning just four previous games (D5 L4).
- Three of those four wins came at White Hart Lane however (Milan in 1972, Inter Milan in 2010 and 2013).
- No side has seen red more often than Fiorentina in this season’s Europa League (3), including one in their last away game at FC Basel for Facundo Roncaglia.
- Only Omar El Kaddouri (5) has more assists in this season’s Europa League than Son Heung-Min (4), while only two players (Raúl Bobadilla and Aduriz, 6) have scored more than Erik Lamela (5).
- Viola have qualified from three of their last four last 32 knockout ties in Europe, including in their last two appearances in the Europa League (2013/14 and 2014/15).
Team News
Fiorentina
Marcos Alonso, Yohan Benalouane and Tino Costa returned for Fiorentina at the weekend leaving Croatian midfielder Milan Badelj the only injury concern for Paulo Sousa. Mathias Fernandez comes into the picture after sitting out the game against Inter due to suspension.
Tottenham
Mauricio Pochettino is likely to rest a few players, but has promised to take the Europa League seriously. Opportunities will be limited with the likes of Nacer Chadli, Erik Lamela, Tom Carroll, Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies hoping to feature. Tottenham will be without Jan Vertonghen and Clinton N’Jie who are sidelined with injury.
Possible Line-ups
Fiorentina: Tatarusanu; Roncaglia, Rodriguez, Astori, Alonso; Vecino, Valero; Tello, Ilicic, Bernardeschi: Babacar
Tottenham: Lloris; Trippier, Alderweirald, Wimmer, Davies; Dier, Dembele; Lamela, Eriksen, Chadli, Heung-Min Son
