Basel 1-3 after Fiorentina (agg: 3-4): Barak’s victory in the last minute for Fiorentina | European Conference League

In a thrilling extra time semi-final second leg in Basel, substitute Antonin Barak scored in the last minute for Fiorentina, who are now in the Europa League final against West Ham.

the game In short: tension until the last minute

As in the first leg, Fiorentina had advantages early in the game but were unable to capitalize on them until Basel conceded a series of corner kicks. The first two goals could still be clarified, but Nicolas González was completely free to Cristiano Biraghi’s third attempt and slotted it in to give the guests the deserved lead.

Basel started the second half more actively and rewarded themselves with an equalizer in the 55th minute. Andy Bellemare led a free kick to Zaki Amdoni who gave Igor no chance on the left in the penalty area and hit it at the far post from a narrow angle.

Zaki Amdouni celebrates his goal to make it 1-1UEFA via Getty Images

However, Fiorentina did not let this get them down and pressed for the lead once again. Once again it was González: Dodô played from the right wing in attack, and fortunately Amdouni let the ball bounce, and González scored 2-1 for the guests, forcing them into extra time.

Nicolas González (left) scored twice for FiorentinaAFP via Getty Images

It was clear that Fiorentina was ahead in extra time, but they could not reward themselves for a long time – again and again, Basel goalkeeper Marwin Hitz got in the way. In the end it wasn’t enough for the Kings to return. In the ninth minute of stoppage time, three substitutes made the perfect final: Luka Jović played the ball in the center of the goal, Jonathan Ikoni passed it and dusted off the free-standing Antonin Barak.

Fiorentina now meet West Ham in the final in Prague.

Jurgen BaumgartnerAnd Basel Reporter

In the end it wasn’t enough for Basel, though, after Fiorentina’s first goal, they came back. However, luck was not on their side tonight, and here the European dream came to an end.

sounds

Nicholas Gonzalez, Fiorentina winger: “It was a great evening for me and the team. We did everything we could to get to this final, we never gave up, we showed that we are strong and united. It will be a great match in Prague”.

Antonin Barak, Fiorentina midfielder: “It’s a great feeling, especially for me because the final is in Prague. It’s been a great trip, I’m speechless, I’m so happy. I was sure we were going to play a great game. Tonight we stood under a lot of pressure but we deserved to win. Now we have to To go to the end and take our chance to lift the trophy.”

Giacomo Bonaventura, Fiorentina midfielder: “We were all very happy, the whole group, not just the players. Now we have two finals, two tough games, but we will do everything we can to win the title, that’s clear.”

Josep Brecalo, Fiorentina striker“We’re very happy. After losing in the first leg we had to try our best and we did. We’re very happy.”

Vincenzo Italiano, coach of FiorentinaWe deserved to get to the final. The players were fantastic, and it’s not easy to play here in this atmosphere. I believed in getting there because we paid so dearly only to have the power cut for 15 minutes. in the first leg.”

Waterburger, Basel midfielderWe started well and were dangerous on some counter-attacks. We waited for them to make mistakes, that was generally our game in the Conference League. You think, now you go to penalties and then you punt, then you lose in the last second… you can imagine that, “It’s unbelievable. I think the pride comes later. No one expected anything from us from the quarter-finals onwards, but then we got so close. Right now, that’s really hard. To swallow.”

Important stats

• Fiorentina is the only team to have reached the final of all four major UEFA club competitions: the European Club Champions Cup/UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League, the UEFA Conference League, and the discontinued UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup.
• Viola reached the final for the first time since losing 3-1 to Juventus in the 1989/90 UEFA Cup. The only European trophy won was the 1960/61 Cup Winners’ Cup.
• The 3–1 victory over Basel ended a run of nine winless UEFA semi-final matches. They have also reached the UEFA semi-finals five times for the first time.
• Fiorentina are unbeaten in away matches in Switzerland (W4 D2).
• Basel’s Zaki Amdoni is now the top scorer in the European Conference League, alongside Fiorentina’s Arthur Cabral. They are both in seven goals.
• Fiorentina remains the most dangerous club in the tournament with 36 goals.

line up

intrepid: Hits – Lang, Nohu, Belmar – Ndoye, Shaka (88 fry), Burger (106 males), Calafiori – Augustin (81 zekiri), Amdoni, Diouf

Fiorentina: Terracciano – Dodô, Milenković, Igor (56th Ranieri), Biraghi – Bonaventura (106th Barák), Amrabat, Castrovilli (120 + 2 Mandragora) – Brekalo (46th Ikoné), Cabral (91st Jović), González

What then?

Fiorentina will meet West Ham in the 2023 UEFA Europa League Final in Prague on June 7. Fiorentina is the name of the home team.