Fiorentina vs Crystal Palace: Preview

“Do I have to? ” | Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images Having quite possibly secured salvation with a surprising 1-0 win over Lazio on Monday, Fiorentina goes from nervous celebration to grudging acceptance of an ignominious fate with the second leg of the Conference League quarterfinal. Crystal Palace absolutely smacked the Viola around last week en route to a 3-0 win that demonstrated an unbridgeable divide in quality between these teams and will show up here with the job about 90% finished.

The Viola can play for pride, sure, but will be much more interested in Monday’s clash at Lecce; a win there would all but guarantee another Serie A season, leaving this quarterfinal as a mere distraction. The match will be played on Thursday, 16 April 2026 , at 20:00 GMT/3:00 PM EST at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in beautiful Firenze. The forecast, at least, calls for a truly glorious day, sunny and warm, perfect for sitting in the remains of the Curva Maratona and watching the sun go down over the Fiesole hills.

I haven’t found anyone reporting the number of Palace fans making the trip but I expect it’ll be a large contingent, given that they’ll have a lovely Tuscan holiday and also get to watch a walkover. Hopefully, their local counterparts will still show up rather than ignoring this final, vestigial European tilt. Three things to watch for 1.

Is this a Primavera game? Fiorentina’s list of absences is shrinking, perhaps, but remains lengthy. Moise Kean, Fabiano Parisi, Marco Brescianini, and Niccolò Fortini are all dinged up and might not be worth risking in this game.