After emerging from Slovenia with a slender 2-1 lead despite a lacklustre performance, Fiorentina were in prime position to see off this tie at Stadio Artemio Franchi and progress to the Semi-Final stage of the UEFA Conference League once again.

As they did in the first leg, Celje started quickly and with high intensity, but it was the Italians who extended their advantage towards the end of the first half with a goal from Rolando Mandragora.

However, the Slovenians refused to lay down and levelled the game on the night early in the second half with Aljosa Matko with his second goal of the Conference League campaign.

This was followed a famous goal from Klemen Nemanic to put Celje ahead on the night and level on aggregate.

The home fans were stunned to silence, but were soon picked up as Moise Kean saved the day and hit straight back and put Fiorentina back in front on aggregate, seeing them into the Semi-Finals.

Story of the Match:

Raffaele Palladino made two changes from the goalless draw in Serie A against Parma, with Pietro Comuzzo and Michael Folorunsho coming in.

Suspensions carrying over from the first leg also restricted selection for the Italian side.

Celje meanwhile made a staggering ten changes from their Slovenian Prva Liga game against Mura, opting to rest their team from the first leg.

The Slovenians came out of the blocks quickly and felt somewhat aggrieved early on when Aljosa Matko had the studs of Nicolo Fagioli raked down his achilles.

However, the referee awarded a foul and provided no further action, and VAR did not intervene.

The hosts felt as though they should have been ahead in the 11th minute as Marin Pongracic rose highest from a recycled corner to angle a free header over the crossbar.

Celje responded with some dangerous crosses of their own into the area causing chaos amongst Fiorentina defenders.

The underdogs then almost levelled the tie after a through ball found Tamar Svetlin who ghosted past Fiorentina defenders and fired a shot goalwards, forcing David De Gea to parry wide.

Intense encounter with chances and big tackles from both sides –

It was end-to-end action as La Viola almost made Celje pay for that miss less than three minutes later with a wonderfully worked move.

A great pass to the edge of the area found Albert Gudmunsson, who’s innovative backheel provided space for Fabiano Parisi to run into inside the area, allowing him to dink a ball into a central area where Mandragora was waiting. The 27-year-old turned and poked the ball goalwards but was frustrated to see his effort smothered by Ricardo Silva.

Following this, there was a flashpoint that saw Parisi go down inside the area after being caught on the ankle by Juanjo Nieto, causing the Spaniard to gesticulate and shout at the stricken Fiorentina player on the floor.

After a late tackle just moments later forcing the referee to award Celje a free kick, there was some pushing and shoving from both sides.

The passion from both sides was palpable, and Fiorentina took the initiative and extended their aggregate advantage after Pongracic threaded a simple ball through to Mandragora who coolly slotted home in the 37th minute.

This goal appeared to have booked Fiorentina’s place in the Semi-Final, but Celje just would not die.

Celje’s second half rally –

In fact, Celje’s goal was eerily similar to that of Fiorentina’s, with a simple ball through, this time by Mark Zabukovnik who found Matko gliding through Fiorentina’s defence to beat David De Gea one on one.

Fiorentina relinquishing their lead in the tie seemed unthinkable, but Celje continued to cause the hosts all sorts of problems and scored a memorable goal to go ahead in the 65th minute.

A wonderfully weighted corner from Svit Seslar found Klemen Nemanic around the penalty spot with the big centre half rising high to power the header past a helpless De Gea, causing the Celje bench to erupt in sheer joy.

This joy, however, was to be short lived, as Celje were back level on aggregate for just two minutes after a long ball over the top found Moise Kean who carried the ball towards the edge of the area before cutting in onto his right foot and bending it into the bottom right corner.

Often in these circumstances, this can prove a killer blow for the underdogs and take the wind out of their sails, but Celje continued to battle on admirably.

Fiorentina did believe they had put the tie to bed ten minutes later after Slovenia’s Euro 2024 star Zan Karnicnik failed to deal with a free kick, allowing Luca Ranieri to poke the ball into an empty net with the goalkeeper in no man’s land.

On this occasion, VAR came to the Slovenian’s rescue to keep the tie alive, a judging Ranieri to be offside from the free kick.

As Celje committed men forward, they left themselves defensively vulnerable, and it looked as though Moise Kean had his second after capitalising on an absent Celje defence to fire past the keeper once more.

Much to the frustration of the former Juventus, Everton and PSG player, his joy was also short lived as his goal was ruled out for offside as well.

Despite this, La Viola hung on to make their third straight Conference League Semi-Final.

Player of the Match – Rolando Mandragora (Fiorentina):

After his goal in Slovenia helped bring back an advantage for the second leg, the former Juventus academy player proved a threat all night, grabbing a goal and an assist to add to his Conference League tally.

After missing a guilt-edge chance in the first 20 minutes, the 27-year-old did well to continue getting himself into dangerous areas and be open to the threaded ball that was potent throughout the game.

The draw ensured that Fiorentina would progress 4-3 on aggregate, but once again La Viola made life difficult for themselves.

The game was almost reminiscent of their Quarter-Final second leg two years ago where they almost blew a 4-1 first leg lead at home to Polish side Lech Poznan.

They will, however, progress to face Spain’s Real Betis in the Semi Final, but will have to seriously improve their level of performance if they are to reach their third straight Conference League final.

Fiorentina return to Serie A action on Monday with a trip to Cagliari, whilst Celje will no battle to get back into Europe for next season with a trip to Radomlje.