Fiorentina will be aiming to complete a professional job against Braga on Thursday and secure their place in the last 16 of the Europa Conference League.

The Italian side won 4-0 in Portugal last week, with Vitor Tormena’s sending off leaving the hosts in a world of trouble.

However, Fiorentina had already secured a 1-0 lead at half time at Estadio Municipal de Braga through Luka Jovic’s header just before the break, with the Serbian striker latching onto a trademark Cristiano Biraghi cross from the left flank.

Ten minutes into the second half, Jovic was the victim of a senseless stamp from Tormena, who was rightly given his marching orders after a VAR check. Rather than rest on their marginal lead, I Viola pushed hard for a more comfortable lead to take home to Florence, with Jovic doubling his side’s lead on the hour mark.

Fiorentina made a resounding statement in the first leg of this UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL) knockout playoff round tie, strolling to a 4-0 demolition of Braga that marked their fifth straight victory in the competition. Aside from practically guaranteeing progress to the Round of 16, the result also gives coach Vincenzo Italiano an excuse to rest his main aces if he wants – such as Luka Jović, who tops the UECL scoring charts after his first-leg brace.

Even with the ongoing distraction of avoiding a Serie A relegation battle and after only managing a 1-1 weekend draw vs Empoli, Fiorentina are fancied to extend an unbeaten UECL home record (W3, D1).

Yet, the lack of clean sheets in that return might mean a full-strength defence, just to completely rule out any threat of a comeback while providing the Viola with an ideal platform to chase their first major continental honours since the 1960/61 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup.

Fiorentina Europa Conference League form:

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Fiorentina form (all competitions):

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Braga Europa Conference League form:

Braga form (all competitions):

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Later in 1961, Braga’s fellow Portuguese club Leixões famously became the first side ever to completely overturn a four-goal aggregate deficit in any UEFA competition (W 7-6 agg. vs La Chaux-de-Fonds). Braga must aim to emulate this feat to progress, and they know that simply going for broke is the only chance they will have of achieving what currently seems like mission impossible.

But this might not be Minhotos’ highest priority, as Braga are still within just two points of the Primeira Liga’s second automatic UEFA Champions League group stage qualification spot, after Sunday’s 2-0 win vs Arouca.

That only further adds to the ‘free hit’ feel of this clash, the eve of which interestingly marks the 16th anniversary of Braga’s only previous away win vs Italian opposition (1-0 vs Parma, UEFA Cup).

Players to watch: As well as rescuing a point at the weekend, Fiorentina’s Arthur Cabral also netted a brace in the first leg, with all three goals arriving inside the closing 20 minutes.

As for the visitors, Simon Banza scored against Arouca on Sunday and sparked a comeback win in Braga’s last away game (W 2-1 vs Maritimo), making it just one defeat (W18, D4) in goalscoring appearances since the start of 2021/22.

Hot streak: None of Fiorentina’s last ten home games have separated the sides by a margin of 2+ goals.

Fiorentina possible starting lineup:

Terracciano; Dodo, Milenkovic, Igor, Biraghi; Bonaventura, Amrabat, Mandragora; Ikone, Cabral, Kouame

Braga possible starting lineup:

Matheus; Gomez, Oliveira, Niakate, Sequeira; Bruma, Racic, Al-Musrati, R Horta; Banza, Ruiz

In reality, there is very little for either team to play for in this match given the extent of Fiorentina’s four-goal lead. Braga will need to score at least once during the early exchanges to make things remotely interesting.

As such, we can see the match petering out during the second half, with both managers likely to be content with avoiding defeat and preserving their players’ legs ahead of important away matches in their respective domestic divisions.