Fiorentina, what a shame: Gosens comes back, then Betis mocks him in extra time. No final

It's a bitter night at Franchi. Fiorentina fails to reach the third Conference League final in a row. They fight with heart, they give everything they have and everything they can. They win the match 2-1 in regulation time with a brace from Gosens, but the Moroccan Ezzalzouli signs the penalty in extra time, drawing 2-2 and from there Viola no longer finds the strength. In the final against Chelsea on the 28th in Wroclaw, Manuel Pellegrini's Betis goes, reaching their first European final. While Fiorentina will have to attempt a miracle to reach Europe in the last three league games

Even with one and a half sectors closed, the Franchi looks beautiful. The black and green segment with the Spanish fans is packed. The Ferrovia curve, now Nuova Fiesole, fills up slowly, leaving the last seats to the fan leaders. The Digos has banned the choreography, which had been prepared, so there are only purple drapes and a banner that is noticeable and is what the people expect: “Warrior spirit”.

The teams enter the field. With the imagined formations. Palladino lines up Dodo and Gosens as wingers in a 3-5-2, Adli has to play Cataldi. Pellegrini sets up his 4-2-3-1 with Sabaly and Ricardo Rodriguez as full-backs. In the middle are Cardoso and Lo Celso, up front Isco plays behind Bakambu with Antony and Fornals wide looking for one-on-ones. Pellegrini is in a tracksuit, Palladino is elegant, in a blue suit. At the start, no one makes the "first move". After nine minutes, the first shot, an easy one, is by Antony. Fiorentina risks it with two wrong exits by Comuzzo who is imperfect in his support and if you set Betis' offensive men on fire, it's tough. In the 20th minute, Adli feeds Kean who causes panic and shoots, but high. In the 22nd minute, Viola really had a chance to move forward: a corner from Mandragora, a header from Comuzzo and Sabaly cleared it on the line, then Comuzzo again and Bartra saved. Immediately after, Adli unfortunately lost the ball and set Antony in motion. In the 27th minute, Mandragora tried and placed it with his left foot: bad. But two minutes later, Fagioli, no stranger to fouls that cause dangerous situations, brought down Lo Celso. Antony's free kick from 20-22 meters was masterful. It hit the inside post and went in. Fourth goal in eight Conference games for the Brazilian who also scored as many in La Liga. It was a tremendous blow.

But Viola doesn't lose their composure and in the 34th minute they exploit the weaknesses of the biancoverdi in the back, again on a dead ball: a corner from Mandragora and Gosens, who is alone, hits it very well in a half twist and equalizes. The Franchi becomes a cauldron. But Betis is scary. Adli loses the ball again. Lo Celso shoots, high, then Cardoso, crossbar. It is forbidden to get distracted and allow counterattacks or make bad passes in the middle, where Cardoso and the expert Lo Celso are two guarantees. But in the 42nd minute Viola evens the score, compared to the first leg, again with Gosens. Again from a corner, but this time the extraordinary German psychologist rises above Beltran and beats Fran Vieites. The enthusiasm is enormous and another corner from Adli finds Kean's head who hits it, but sends it over the crossbar.

Adli, who had a really poor first half, doesn't come out of the locker room. Palladino resorts to Richardson. The Moroccan takes a more central position, almost as if protecting the defense. But the team works to try to avoid one-on-ones, especially those of Antony, who Ranieri keeps watch over. Betis earns corners, in the 10th minute Gud could shoot on goal, but prefers to look for his teammate in the area. Mistake. Pellegrini resorts to substitutions: he needs fresh people. Substitution among the central defenders: Mendy for Bartra and a relay substitution with Ezzalzouli in place of a good Lo Celso. Fornals goes to support Cardoso. In the 16th minute Kean eludes everyone, goes in and Fran Vieites closes the goal by deflecting it into the corner. But it's the Moroccan who has just come on to wreak havoc among the Viola, jumping twice over Pongracic. Comuzzo makes up for it in the corner. The game stagnates. Everyone is afraid of making a mistake. Fiorentina freezes the ball trying to find Kean who is set up with 6' to go, escapes Natan who holds him by the shirt. Kean has a fit of rage and chases him, pulling his shirt in turn: yellow for both. The final becomes very tense. Fagioli also gets a yellow card but to block a restart E at 43' he comes out. He doesn't take it well. In comes Folorunsho. But the substitution is a must. With 2' to go a carelessness by Richardson could have cost the match. He loses the ball, Antony starts and De Gea performs two miracles: on the Brazilian and on the rebound by Ezzalzouli. The game goes into 4-minute injury time. The biggest danger is faced by De Gea who, on Antony's cross, collides with an opponent. The worst is feared, but he gets up again. Nyberg excessively extends injury time, beyond 7 minutes. And, after 101 minutes played, it goes into extra time.

Let's start. With Betis making other changes, there are five. Altimira and Ruibal in, Bakambu out, who has done very little, and Fornals. Fresh forces yes, but Antony and Isco remain, those who for the technical expert can always solve the match. Palladino, who has only changed two men, makes the two obligatory substitutions after 5' of the first extra time but Gudmundsson and the hero Gosens are overwhelmed. It's up to Beltran and Parisi. But in the 7th minute Betis is deadly: Boa by Ruibal who serves Antony who finds Ezzalzouli in the area who easily scores, equalizing, scoring his third goal in the Conference and complicating everything for Fiorentina. Who must try a new comeback. Dodo still has some and pushes, forcing Fran Vieites into a corner. But Betis' second goalkeeper also blocks the resulting header by Comuzzo. There are two minutes of added time, but a nice ball put in the area by Parisi is not deflected into the goal by anyone. Palladino plays the last 15 minutes of hope with two more attackers: Colpani and Zaniolo for Dodo and Pongracic. Fiorentina tries to attack and on a long ball on which the Spanish goalkeeper dives to put it out there is a clash with Folorunsho, booked. Fran Vieites stays on the ground, then recovers. Wasting time becomes a priority for the Spanish, who have the opportunity 5 minutes from the end to close the game with Isco who kicks badly, high. Ezzalzouli is less lucky instead, hitting the post on the counterattack. Fiorentina has no more, they are no longer able to organize a decent attack and Betis goes to the final.