Table of Contents
A decisive night for Italian football in Europe: Bologna and Fiorentina are chasing two huge comebacks in the second legs of the Europa League and Conference League quarter-finals.
Vincenzo Italiano’s Bologna fly to Birmingham to face Aston Villa, starting from the 3-1 defeat in the first leg: a difficult comeback will be needed at Villa Park.
Even more complicated is the mission facing Paolo Vanoli’s Fiorentina, who must overturn a heavy 3-0 loss to Crystal Palace at the Franchi.
Two clashes against English clubs, two attempts at redemption after first-leg defeats: to stay in Europe, perfect performances will be needed… and perhaps something even more.
ASTON VILLA-BOLOGNA
ASTON VILLA (4-4-2): E. Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Pau Torres, Digne; McGinn, Onana, Tielemans, Buendia; Watkins, Rogers. Coach: Emery.
BOLOGNA (4-3-3): Ravaglia; Joao Mario, Vitik, Casale, Miranda; Ferguson, Freuler, Moro; Bernardeschi, Castro, Rowe. Coach: Italiano.
💥 Italiano: "The key word? Courage!"
Before kick-off in the Europa League quarter-final between Aston Villa and Bologna, Vincenzo Italiano answered questions on the microphones of Sky Sport.
"We are fully determined to put them in difficulty, to stop them from having a comfortable evening, to try to make this result a bit messy and leave here with our heads held high. That word we used yesterday — which could be courage — fits perfectly for me, because this stadium and this opponent demand it. I’m confident because in certain moments the lads always bring out something extra, and I hope today is the right match for that."
FIORENTINA-CRYSTAL PALACE
FIORENTINA (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Comuzzo, Pongracic, Ranieri, Gosens; Fagioli, Mandragora; Harrison, Gudmundsson, Solomon; Piccoli. Coach: Vanoli
CRYSTAL PALACE (3-4-2-1): Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Canvot; Munoz, Wharton, Kamada, Mitchell; Sarr, Pino; Mateta. Coach: Glasner
🗣️ Vanoli: "We can make history"
Fiorentina coach Paolo Vanoli spoke to Sky ahead of the match against Crystal Palace in the second leg of the Conference League quarter-finals.
“Do we believe? Absolutely, all these people believe, they’ve once again shown how close they are to us, and we believe too because it’s a dream and we must always believe in it. The system should be left aside; to pull off something special, everyone has to give 110%, and together that adds up to much more. We know we’re facing a strong team, but we also know we have quality. It’s a shame not to have the full squad available, and the match could go beyond 90 minutes.”
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.
