Basel vs Fiorentina Europa Conference League semi

Thursday, May 18, 2023

When is it? How can you watch it? What are the possible line-ups? All you need to know about the UEFA Europa Conference League semi-final second leg between Basel and Fiorentina.

Basel and Fiorentina meet in their UEFA Europa Conference League semi-final second leg on Thursday 18 May.

Basel vs Fiorentina at a glance

When: Thursday 18 May (21:00 CET kick-off)Where: St. Jakob-Park, BaselWhat: UEFA Europa Conference League semi-final second leg (first leg: 2-1)How to follow: Build-up and live coverage can be found hereWinners are the nominal home team in the final against AZ or West Ham in Prague

Fans can find their local UEFA Europa Conference League broadcast partner(s) here.

Basel are looking to become the first team from Switzerland to reach a major European club final and, after scoring two goals or more in nine of their last ten UEFA Europa Conference League matches, they can go into their home meeting against Fiorentina with confidence. Having suffered just two losses in their last 14 European fixtures, they are in impressive form.

Fiorentina are trying to avoid history repeating itself. They have failed to progress in each of their last three UEFA semi-final ties but have travelled well this season in Europe, scoring four times on the road on three occasions. Indeed, they are the most prolific side in the competition with 33 goals overall – seven coming from this season's top scorer Arthur Cabral.

Basel: Hitz; Lang, Nuhu, Pelmard; Ndoye, Diouf, Xhaka, Burger, Millar; Amdouni, Augustin

Fiorentina: Terracciano; Dodô, Quarta, Milenković, Biraghi; Amrabat, Mandragora; Ikoné, Bonaventura, González; Cabral

BaselForm (all competitions, most recent first): LWLWWLWhere they stand: 6th in Swiss Super League

FiorentinaForm (all competitions, most recent first): WLLDWDWhere they stand: 8th in Italian Serie A

Jürgen Baumgartner, Basel reporterAfter an impressive first-leg win, Basel's dream of becoming the first Swiss side to reach a major UEFA final is in sight. St. Jakob-Park is sold out for the Fiorentina game, and while Basel lost 6-1 at St. Gallen at the weekend, Heiko Vogel had made nine changes with the Fiorentina game in mind. He will have his absolute best side for the semi-final decider, and if they play like they did in Florence, they can start planning their trip to Prague on Friday morning.

Paolo Menicucci, Fiorentina reporterA run of eight games which included only one win came to an end for Fiorentina at the weekend with a convincing victory against Udinese. It was a reminder that the Viola have the potential to turn things around in Switzerland, especially given their range of attacking options. However, they will have to avoid the kinds of lapses in concentration which allowed Basel to be so dangerous on the counter in Florence.

Heiko Vogel, Basel interim coach: "I think it will be a different match from last week. Nothing has been decided yet but we will start with a one goal lead. I imagine a very difficult match from a tactical point of view too - we will certainly have to suffer. Let's hope we have an almost perfect day like in the first leg so we can reach our first ever European final."

Vincenzo Italiano, Fiorentina coach: "We are aware of the result from the first leg. We know that we will have to force the match a bit to try at least to equalise but we must also be patient. We can't afford to make mistakes and allow Basel to capitalise. We know the pressure we are under, but it will be a great occasion for everyone."

What happens next?

The winners advance to the 2023 Europa Conference League final against AZ Alkmaar or West Ham. The Eden Arena in Prague, Czechia, will host this season's final on 7 June.