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FLORENCE, ITALY – FEBRUARY 7: Marin Pongracic of ACF Fiorentina in action during the Serie A match between ACF Fiorentina and Torino FC at Artemio Franchi on February 7, 2026 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images)
Fiorentina are through to the Conference League quarter-finals after Cher Ndour’s deflected effort and a Marin Pongracic goal from his own half beat Rakow.
They will face either Crystal Palace or AEK Larnaca, as that Round of 16 tie is going to extra time.
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The Viola had a slender 2-1 first leg lead thanks to the last-gasp Albert Gudmundsson penalty in this Round of 16. Moise Kean returned from injury for his first start since March 2, with Niccolò Fortini, Manor Solomon, Luca Lezzerini and Tariq Lamptey injured. Rakow finished second in the league phase of the tournament and won the Polish title in 2023, but again left top scorer Lamine Diaby-Fadiga initially on the bench.
See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.
Kean made an immediate impact, cutting inside from the left after three minutes for two shots charged down from close range by Stratos Svarnas.
Ivi Lopez tested Oliver Christensen with a free kick at the near post, but the hosts lost Fran Tudor to injury after just 19 minutes.
When Lopez pulled back from the by-line for Jonatan Braut Brunes, the finish from six yards was charged down by Giovanni Fabbian.
Nicolò Fagioli floated a ball over the top for Kean to volley straight at the goalkeeper, then the midfielder went for goal himself on a Fabiano Parisi cross on the stroke of half-time, forcing a save under the crossbar.
Within 22 seconds of the restart, Rakow had taken the lead on the night, drawing level on aggregate 2-2. Karol Struski cut inside Cher Ndour from the left and drilled hard and low into the near bottom corner, surprising Christensen.
Svarnas threw himself in the way of a Giovanni Fabbian strike, with Ndour nodded over from the resulting corner.
The Viola started to pour forward and rack up a series of corners, Ndour unable to tap in from six yards, then Parisi stinging Oliwier Zych’s gloves from the edge of the area.
Roberto Piccoli came so close on 67 minutes when nodding the Robin Gosens cross onto the base of the upright from point-blank range.
The pressure paid off, as after good work from Parisi, the Ndour strike from the edge of the box took a big deflection off teammate Piccoli to wrongfoot the goalkeeper and slot into the far bottom corner, restoring Fiorentina’s advantage on aggregate.
The Viola kept pushing anyway to consolidate their lead overall, Piccoli firing wide from close range and Parisi’s strike skimming the near post.
Zych also had to fly to palm the Fagioli curler out of the top corner from the edge of the area, but there was a huge scare when the referee pointed to the spot for a penalty. He changed his mind following the VAR review and instead booked Brunes for the obvious dive, as there was no contact with Christensen.
Fiorentina were under siege in stoppages, with even Zych going up for a set play, but this left the goal unprotected, and Marin Pongracic on the counter-attack intelligently passed it into the empty net from inside his own half.
Rakow 1-2 Fiorentina (2-4 agg)
Struski 46 (R), Ndour 68 (F), Pongracic 98 (F)
19-03-2026 17:45
1/8 Final
Raków Municipal StadiumRAKFIO1 – 2
RAK
FIO
Starting lineups
48
Oliwier Zych
Goalkeeper
25
Bogdan Racovițan
Defender
7
Fran Tudor
Defender
19′
4
Stratos Svarnas
Defender
23
Karol Struski
Midfielder
6
Oskar Repka
Midfielder
10
Ivi López
Attacker
20
Jean Carlos Silva
Attacker
18
Jonatan Braut Brunes
Attacker
19
Michael Ameyaw
Attacker
9
Patryk Makuch
Attacker
Oliver Christensen
Goalkeeper
2
Dodô
Defender
65
Fabiano Parisi
Defender
6
Luca Ranieri
Defender
15
Pietro Comuzzo
Defender
27
Cher Ndour
Midfielder
80
Giovanni Fabbian
Midfielder
22
Jacopo Fazzini
Midfielder
44
Nicolò Fagioli
Midfielder
17
Jack Harrison
Attacker
20
Moise Kean
Attacker
Substitutes
5
Marko Bulat
Midfielder
24
Zoran Arsenic
Defender
80
Lamine Diaby-Fadiga
Attacker
11
Adriano
Attacker
1
Kacper Trelowski
Goalkeeper
44
Bogdan Mirčetić
Midfielder
17
Leonardo Rocha
35
Mitja Ilenic
31
Dominik Czeremski
21
Jerzy Napieraj
2
Ariel Mosor
Defender
19′
91
Roberto Piccoli
Attacker
10
Albert Gudmundsson
Attacker
8
Rolando Mandragora
Midfielder
21
Robin Gosens
Midfielder
5
Marin Pongracic
Defender
43
David de Gea
Goalkeeper
60
Eddy Kouadio
Defender
50
Pietro Leonardelli
Goalkeeper
23
Eman Kospo
Defender
61
Riccardo Braschi
Attacker
62
Luis Balbo
Defender
63
Piergiorgio Bonanno
Midfielder
