Lucas Beltrán’s late penalty ensured that Fiorentina progressed to the UEFA Conference League final for the second year in a row as they secured a 1-1 draw away at Club Brugge on the night, winning the semi-final tie 4-3 on aggregate.The early exchanges indicated that the frantic nature of the first leg would be replicated, with Blauw-Zwart pushing forward as any moment of remote promise was met by an anticipatory roar from the home crowd at the Jan Breydel Stadion. While patience was also required, they scored with their first shot in the 20th minute when Maxim De Cuyper – who had replaced the injured Bjorn Meiher in the starting line-up – drifted into the box and got the faintest of touches on Hans Vanaken’s cross to score the second goal in his last three starts, levelling the tie up in the process..
Fiorentina almost conjured an immediate response, but Simon Mignolet smothered Nicolás González and Andrea Belotti sent his follow-up attempt trickling wide. With La Viola going for the goal that would restore their aggregate lead, Igor Thiago did well to get behind Nikola Milenković and selflessly squared the ball for Michał Skóraś, but the full-back was too flat-footed, allowing Dodô to recover and clear. Christian Kouamé then hit a sweet strike that cannoned off the crossbar and onto the line, leaving the winger frozen in disbelief as Kyriani Sabbe headed the ball away.##EDITORS_CHOICE##Visibility issues due to flares delayed the restart after halftime, but Brugge wasted no time in asserting themselves once more, although Denis Odoi wasted a fantastic opportunity by mistiming his header. There was a relentless intensity to the match with so much at stake and while signs started to emerge that the hosts were struggling to keep up, Joel Ordóñez remained focused and intervened brilliantly to stop Cristiano Biraghi’s cross from reaching Belotti. They survived further scares, with Biraghi’s free-kick and M’Bala Nzola’s header both hitting the woodwork.ANDIAMO AD ATENE!#ClubBruggeFiorentina 1 – 1 | 90′ + 8′ #UECL pic.twitter.com/HYKSMO2SLu— ACF Fiorentina (@acffiorentina) May 8, 2024 Having scored the late winner in the first leg, Nzola influenced the result again as he was caught by Brandon Mechele to win the spot-kick that Beltrán snuck past Mignolet’s outstretched hand in the 85th minute. After Odoi encapsulated the hosts’ frustrations by earning a second yellow from the bench, Vanaken’s deflected strike meant a smart save from Pietro Terracciano was required to ensure that Fiorentina extended their club-record unbeaten run in Europe to 13 matches and earned their place in Athens’ showpiece. They also broke Brugge hearts in their first European semi-final in 32 years, with the first leg loss – the Belgian outfit’s only defeat in their last 11 across all competitions – ultimately proving costly.
UEFA CONFERENCE LEAGUESemifinals – second legWednesdayClub Brugge – Fiorentina 1-1 (0-1) /first leg 2-3//Vanaken 20 – Beltran 58 pen/Thursday22:00: (3.70) Olympiakos (3.50) Aston Villa (2.00) /first leg 2-4/***odds are subject to change***