Fiorentina – Udinese

Udinese will resist a tired Fiorentina

Fiorentina remain one of only two teams to take part in every tournament possible so far. The Fiorentines played their first Conference League semi-final against Basel on Thursday. The team took the lead thanks to a goal from Artur, but lost the lead in the second half. The Swiss scored the opener in the 71st minute and their second goal in 90+2 made them the unexpected favourites of the pair. "The Violets conceded defeat, although they were statistically outclassed. Vincenzo Italiano will now have to concentrate on the return leg on 18 May. However, for Fiorentina, the Conference League and the Italian Cup remain the priority tournaments. Thus, in the championship the Florentines sit in eighth place and even mathematically they cannot go any higher. Yes, the team could drop all the way down to 13th place, but there would be no consequences. This is one of the reasons for the team's deteriorating results. Thus, out of the last five rounds, the Pitmen have only won one. The victory was recorded against the weakest side in the league table, Sampdoria (5-0). Apart from Sampdoria, Italiano's side lost twice and had to share points twice. Last week Fiorentina were defeated on the road by Napoli 1-0. The pace of the encounter was such that the Pitmen could have lost by a much bigger margin. With the same number of points, Udinese are one place down. Although the start of the season gave the tiffosi hopes of European competition, a finish even in ninth place can be regarded as satisfactory. Last weekend, the Friuli were very confident in beating Sampdoria, and before that they shared points with Napoli. The team is in good form, although they no longer have any goals in the league. Fiorentina have lost interest in the domestic championship, and the extremely tight schedule makes this game a "passing game" for the team. The Italian will be forced to resort to a rotation and save the main forces for the return European Cup meeting with Basel. But even without that, the Fiallas' statistics against the Friuli are not impressive. In the last five league meetings, Udinese have beaten their archrivals on three occasions. Fiorentina have won twice more, but always by just one goal. It is extremely difficult to believe that the home side can find the strength to win comfortably now. Udinese are clearly not the boys to beat at the Artemio Franchi.