UEFA Europa League: Fiorentina vs Sevilla preview

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May 13th, 2015
Back UEFA Europa League: Fiorentina vs Sevilla preview

Fiorentina know that they have to pull off a miracle on Thursday in order to advance to the Europa League final. Sevilla have secured a comfortable 3-0 victory in the first leg, so the Italians will have to pull off an amazing comeback to stop them from reaching the last act. Sevilla have lost their previous two matches on Italian soil, back in 2005 at Parma and in 2008 at Sampdoria. Fiorentina have done reasonably well at home against Spanish opposition, they have recorded two wins, two draws and one defeat.

There is only one team that has managed to overturn a three-goal deficit in the history of the Europa League: Valencia. They had lost 3-0 to Basel in the first leg in 2014 and fought back to win the second leg 5-0. Fiorentina would have to pull off a similar achievement, or at least a 3-0 win that would take them to extra time or a penalty shoot-out. They did beat fellow Italian side Roma 3-0 in a previous stage of the competition. Micah Richards is unavailable for the home side while Giuseppe Rossi and Juan Manuel Vargas are also sidelined by injuries. Josip Ilicic should be ready to make his return though.

Sevilla coach Unai Emery insisted that his men are not yet through to the final, trying to keep them focused on the job at hand. Sevilla have never been defeated in an European semi-final over two legs. Last season at the same stage they knocked out Valencia but not before throwing away a two-goal lead in the second leg. Sevilla will be without their first-choice goalkeeper, Beto, while defender Nicolas Pareja is also out with a knee injury.

Probable line-ups:

Fiorentina: Neto - Tomovic, Savic, Rodriguez, Alonso - Fernandez, Valero, Jaoquin, Ilicic - Gomez, Salah

Sevilla: Rico - Vidal, Carrico, Kolodziejczak, Tremoulinas - Krychowiak, Mbia, Reyes, Banega, Vitolo - Bacca

My prediction: Fiorentina to win 2-1.

Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:

Fiorentina win - 13/10 Draw - 13/5 Sevilla win - 9/4

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