Fiorentina travel to Basel on Thursday evening, needing at a least a point to keep qualification for the UEFA Europa League last 32 in their own hands.
The game marks the return of Paulo Sousa to St Jakob-Park, following his departure from the Swiss champions to take the reigns in Florence at the end of last season, and Sousa will be sure to receive a warm welcome on his return, having guided Basel to the Swiss league title last season.
Basel will qualify for the last 32 if they defeat the Viola, and their home record this season has been excellent, losing only once in the league and once in the Europa League. On the flip side, Fiorentina have yet to be beaten in their five games played in Switzerland, whilst they also possess an away record in Europe which has seen them go unbeaten in their last 10 Europa League group away fixtures.
The Viola know that if they fail to secure a point against Basel, and Lech Poznan defeat Belenenses, then qualification for the last 32 will be out of their hands, as they will be dependent on Basel to defeat Lech whilst they will also have to beat the Portuguese outfit at home in the last round of group fixtures. Much will depend on the creative play of Borja Valero and Josep Ilicic, if Fiorentina are to service the goalscoring prowess of Nikola Kalinic. Sousa will no doubt accept that resting Kalinic in the first half of the game against Empoli cost his side the three points, and top spot in the Serie A table, given he was forced to call upon the Croat at half-time to help the Viola reverse a 2-0 deficit. Fiorentina will have to be wary of highly-rated Basel forward Breel Embolo, and the creative influence of Taulant Xhaka.
After resting several key players for Sunday’s league game at home to Empoli, Sousa is likely to revert to his full strength side. The only absentees for the Viola are Jakub Błaszczykowski, who suffered a hamstring strain whilst on international duty for Poland last week, and Ante Rebic, who is suspended. Also absent is Mario Suarez, who is fit to play but was not called up for “technical reasons.” Basel on the other hand, await to see if the former Inter and Roma defender, Walter Samuel, will have fully recovered from a thigh strain in time to play.
Speaking on the eve of what is probably Fiorentina’s biggest match of the season thus far, here are some of the key points discussed by Sousa:
On his return to Basel and the expected welcome:
“The biggest recognition I could have is from the players, who improved and have grown as a person thanks to me. I do not expect anything, everyone can judge me.”
On tomorrow’s match:
“It will be a difficult match against a club that has done well the past few years, and has invested significantly to have the opportunity to reach the final playing in their own stadium. Here the people are used to having high expectations for this tournament. I am excited because I have experienced great moments here. However I want to win tomorrow.”
On feeling pressure due to a must win situation:
“We made things complicated for ourselves, especially at home. We are aware of this and we want to make up for it by moving on to the next stage. We are confident we will get a good result that will make us more at ease for the last group match.”
On Suarez not called up:
“It is a choice based on a numbers game, seeing as the number of callups is limited in this competition. I made a technical choice based on tomorrow’s opponent.”
Basel likely starting line-up
(4-3-2-1): Vaclik; Lang, Suchy, Samuel, Safari; Elnemy, Xhaka, Bjarnason; Gashi, Embolo; Janko.
Fiorentina likely starting line-up
(3-4-2-1): Tatarasanu; Roncaglia, Rodriguez, Astori; Bernardeschi, Vecino, Badelj, Alonso; Valero, Ilicic; Kalinic
On the bench: Babacar, Fernandez, Lezzerini, Pasqual, Rossi, Sepe, Tomovic, Verdù
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