Fiorentina in the Conference play-off against the Polish side Jagiellonia or Jovetic’s Omonia

And now? Who will play Fiorentina, who finished in 15th place, in the playoffs on 19 and 26 February? We will find out with the draw on January 16th in Nyon. But in the meantime there is no escape, the alternatives are the clubs in 17th or 18th place in the single group: the Poles of Jagiellonia and the Cypriots of Omonia. Meanwhile, it must be said that Fiorentina finished in 3rd place last year and therefore went directly to the round of 16, reaching the semi-finals. But let’s get back to the next obstacles.

the Poles

—

Jagiellonia Białystok reached the quarter-finals last year (KO against Betis). In Alkmaar it finished 0-0 with AZ, 9 points, but lost its center forward, the Congolese Afimico Pululu, sent off in the 63rd minute, 26 years old and 8 goals last year in the Conference (top scorer of the tournament), 5 already in this one. In short, at least one piece of good news: he, disqualified, will not be there. Jagiellonia came in 3rd place last year in Poland; again this year after 18 rounds he is in that position, but with one race less. The striker in the championship of the team coached by 33 year old Adrian Siemieniec is the Spaniard and attacking midfielder Jesus Imaz, 35 years old, 8 goals and 4 assists in Poland, and another 5 centers in the Conference.

the Cypriots

—

Omonia from Nicosia, 18th place in the Conference, lost at home in the last round to Polish side Rakov, second in Europe in the group. In the Conference Omonia won 2 times, at Rapid Vienna and 2-0 against Dinamo Kiev, the same opponents against which Viola won. In the championship after 14 rounds they are second -4 behind Pafos, who however are in the Champions League. The striker is the Cape Verdean Willy Semedo, 31 years old, 9 goals so far in the league, former Charleroi and Grenoble, and 5 other goals in Europe. Last year they finished in 22nd place in the Conference and were knocked out in the playoffs against their compatriots Pafos. The coach is the Norwegian Henning Berg, 56 years old, a title here in 2020-21, but his symbol is the Montenegrin Stevan Jovetic, 36 years old, former Fiorentina and Inter, here since 2024, already 5 goals in this cup, but all in the preliminaries. Of course, it will be a dangerous intersection with sentimental implications.

who waits in the round of 16

—

The composition of the scoreboard also allows us to already know the two teams that, in the event of progressing to the round, Viola could find in the round of 16: these are the French side Strasbourg or another Polish team, Rakow.