In the early morning of April 19, Beijing time, the second leg of the UEFA Conference League 1/4 finals was a key match, and Fiorentina won at home against Plzen. In the end, Fiorentina relied on two goals in extra time to win 2-0 against Plzen, and advanced 2-0 on aggregate, advancing to the semi-finals of European competition for the second consecutive season. For Serie A teams, they are just one step away from winning five Champions League places next season, when Atalanta beat Liverpool, and that condition was finally fulfilled.
Fiorentina won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1961 and have since reached several European finals, including last season's UEFA Europa League, where they lost to West Ham United and finished runners-up. Since the beginning of this season, Fiorentina have continued to soar in the Europa League, aiming for the title.
Entering the quarter-finals, Fiorentina's opponent is the Czech side Viktoria Plzen, the two teams have never met in history, and the first leg of the two sides drew 0-0, extending the suspense of Jin to the second leg.
In the first half, Fiorentina had a clear home advantage, and repeatedly organized attacks to threaten the opponent's goal. In the 6th minute, Belotti's goalmouth shovel was saved. In the 30th minute, Kwame's push shot was also saved. In the 31st minute, Mandragora crossed from the bottom and Belotti's header hit the post and bounced.
In the second half, Plzen won a player who was sent off with a red card, and Fiorentina played one more advantage but still failed to score, and the game went into extra time.
In the second minute of extra time, Fiorentina broke the deadlock 1-0 through a corner kick attack by Gonzalez, and then Biraghi scored to help Fiorentina seal the victory 2-0.
The win brought Fiorentina to an 11-game unbeaten run in European competition, the first time in the club's history. In addition, this is the first time in this century that the team has advanced to the semi-finals of Europe for two consecutive seasons and continues to run towards the championship.
With Fiorentina advancing to the next round, there is also good news for the Serie A team.
Due to the expansion of next season's Champions League to 36 teams, it is stipulated that the top two leagues in European points this season will get one more Champions League place.
Before the game, according to the report of "Milan Sports Newspaper", Serie A can get the fifth Champions League place next season with two results in European competition this week, first of all, Atalanta defeated Liverpool, so that Serie A's European points can reach 19.384 points, ensuring the top two European points this season in advance, and another condition can also be achieved, that is, Atalanta will advance to the Europa League semifinals, while Fiorentina will advance to the Europa League semifinals.
Just over an hour after Fiorentina advanced, Atalanta lost by one goal at home and still eliminated Liverpool 3-1 on aggregate to advance.