Against all odds and common sense, Fiorentina’s suddenly one of the form teams in Serie A, with only 3 teams performing better over the past 3 games. Add in a big win over Jagellonia Białystok in the Conference League knockout round last week and there’s hope that the Viola have turned a corner in this accursed season. Following an ugly win over Pisa in the Tuscan derby, the guys now welcome Jaga to Tuscany.
The match will be played on Thursday, 26 February 2026, at 17:45 GMT/12:45 PM EST, at the
Stadio Artemio Franchi in beautiful Firenze. The forecast calls for a glorious day, actually: sunny, warm (17° C/55° F), with nary a cloud nor a gust of wind. The conditions are about as perfect for an enjoyable Thursday evening as you could ask for. Unfortunately, only about 7000 fans are expected for what is, on paper, a dead rubber
Three things to watch for
1. Early wobbles
3-0 feels like a pretty secure scoreline. For most clubs in the knockout rounds of a European competition, it would be. Fiorentina, of course, is not most teams in the knockout rounds of a European competition. Let me paint you a picture of disaster: Paolo Vanoli fields his backups again, the team comes out complacent due to its lead, Jaga takes advantage and grabs an early goal, the nerves start setting in, Jaga grabs a second before halftime, the momentum tangibly shifts, and just like that it’s a life or death struggle.
It’s not just my natural pessimism with the brush here. Jaga’s going to come out with something to prove and, perhaps more importantly, Adrian Siemieniec (whose name we know just fine, thanks) will get 2 of his most important players back from suspension. Captain Taras Romanczuk is the midfield lynchpin, a calming presence who excels at winning the ball and moving it on. Striker Afimico Pululu is a pressing dynamo whose athleticism, motor, and predatory instincts have resulted in 15 total goals this season. Jaga’s still top of the Ekstraklasa and won’t give up because of a bad 45 minutes in the first leg. If Fiorentina comes out playing softly, the Poles will pounce.
2. Cleanup on Aisle Defense
One of the ways to prevent an early wobble is to not do anything stupid at the back, which has been a nearly impossible task for Fiorentina this year. The defenders have been prone to inexplicable mistakes all year, whether those are bad passes, blown marking assignments, or a lack of force. Especially against a team that’s going to go all-out in pressing them early on, keeping it tight and not shooting their own toes off is of critical importance. If that sounds like advice from your Sunday league captain, well, yeah. Getting the basics right has been a struggle.
On the plus side, there should be plenty of experience out there. Dodô’s suspended for the Udinese game so will probably get a run here to save Niccolò Fortini for Monday. Robin Gosens is smart, experienced, and offers vocal leadership as well as a presence in both boxes. The real question is in central defense. I’d guess Pietro Comuzzo will start next Luca Ranieri; the former captain’s rediscovered his form of late but the Ginger Prince has fallen off and his technical limitations mean he’ll be the primary target for Jaga’s pressing. Hopefully his experienced colleagues can settle him down and let his natural ability carry him through.
3. The Little-Faces connection
Roberto Piccoli and Jacopo Fazzini are among the most disappointing players on the roster. Both arrived in the summer for significant fees and both were expected to start but have mostly disappointed and now find themselves as backups. Both have absorbed a lot of criticism from fans about their limitations. Piccoli’s struggles on the ball and in front of goal, as well as his €25 million price tag, have seen him labeled a bust. Fazzini didn’t come in with quite as heavy a burden of expectation but his infuriating inability to connect with his teammates is a real problem.
They’ll both start in this one and, beyond playing well, they need to play well together. In the first leg, I counted 5 chances Fazzini had to play a forward ball to Piccoli that he either ignored or whiffed. I’ll give you a basketball analogy: you have to reward your center for their hard work and that means getting them the occasional touch outside the flow of the offense to ensure they remain engaged in all phases. Piccoli works hard but if he’s not getting the ball, he’s prone to sulking. If Fazzini’s not a goal threat (0 goals on 12 shots this season), he needs to offer something beyond dribbling down dead ends. Forging a connection with Piccoli would improve both players’ outlook quite a bit.
Possible lineups
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Ted’s Memorial Blind Guess Department
The bookies lean very heavily towards Fiorentina for obvious reasons. That 0-3 is, after all, quite persuasive. However, I think that ignores some of the context at play: would it shock anyone if Vanoli decided the best course of action was to dig in and weather the storm and this one ended up as a 1-2 defeat or something like that? Jagiellonia wants some measure of revenge and has 2 of its best players back. With the hosts likely to conserve energy ahead of a huge Serie A game on Monday and safe in their first leg margin of victory, the door is open for some silliness.
Nevertheless, I’ll take Fiorentina to see out a businesslike 2-1 win. Jaga will come out swinging, applying a level of pressure that catches the Viola unprepared and even gets them a goal that sets the teeth on edge a bit; I’ll say Pululu’s the scorer but it could be anyone at a set piece. The visitors will continue to pour forward but that, by necessity, requires leaving a lot of gaps, gaps that Fiorentina will eventually take advantage of. Once Piccoli equalizes, the visitors’ aggression will turn to desperation and Giovanni Fabbian will grab the second to put it to bed. That aggression I’m expecting from Jaga, by the way, could lead to an ill-tempered match with a fair number of cards.
Forza Viola!
