Fiorentina vs Real Betis facts

Real Betis take a slender 2-1 advantage to Florence in the second leg of their UEFA Conference League semi-final hoping to deny hosts Fiorentina a spot in a third consecutive final.

Betis – who are playing in their first European semi-final – took the lead after six minutes in their home first leg on 1 May, Abdessamad Ezzalzouli striking in off the underside of the crossbar. On-loan Manchester United winger Antony doubled the advantage in the 64th minute before Luca Ranieri pulled a goal back for the visitors.

The first leg was a first meeting in UEFA competition between the two sides.

Form guide

Fiorentina

Record vs Spanish clubs: W2 D4 L9 F11 A27
Home record vs Spanish clubs: W2 D1 L3

Fiorentina have won just one of their last ten matches against teams from Spain (D3 L6), and only two from 15 overall.

Prior to the first leg, they previously faced Spanish opposition at this stage of the 2014/15 Europa League, going down 0-5 on aggregate to eventual winners Sevilla (0-3 a, 0-2 h).

The Italian side – who lost to West Ham in the 2023 final (1-2) and Olympiacos 12 months later (0-1 aet) – finished third in this season's league phase (W4 D1 L1). In the round of 16 they took on Panathinaikos, losing 3-2 in Athens before triumphing 3-1 at home.

La Viola overcame Celje in the quarter-finals and have now won all 12 of their two-legged Conference League ties, qualifying included. This is their tenth UEFA semi-final appearance, winning six and losing three of their previous nine.

Fiorentina have qualified from four of the six previous occasions they have lost the first leg of European competition away from home by a single-goal margin. Most recently they turned over a one-goal deficit in this season's round of 16 against Panathinaikos when a 2-3 defeat in Greece was followed by 3-1 home victory to progress 5-4 on aggregate.

Fiorentina have won more matches (22) and scored more goals (90) in the Conference League, Matchday 1 to final, than any other team.

The first-leg defeat was only the Viola's fourth in their last 27 European games (W13 D10).

Raffaele Palladino's team have scored 28 goals in this season's Conference League, behind only Chelsea (37).

Italian midfielder Rolando Mandragora has five goals in Fiorentina's last seven Conference League matches.

Fiorentina's record in six UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W3 L3:
4-5 v Sachsenring Zwickau, 1975/76 European Cup Winners' Cup second round
1-3 v Boavista, 1986/87 UEFA Cup first round
3-1 v Atlético de Madrid, 1989/90 UEFA Cup first round
4-3 v Groningen, 2007/08 UEFA Cup first round
4-2 v Everton, 2007/08 UEFA Cup round of 16
2-4 v Rangers, 2007/08 UEFA Cup semi-final

Real Betis

Record vs Italian clubs: W5 D2 L2 F13 A11
Away record vs Italian clubs: W2 D0 L2

Betis are unbeaten in their last six matches against Italian opposition (W4 D2), winning each of their last two away from home; they were 2-1 Europa League group stage victors at both AC Milan in 2018/19 and Roma in 2022/23.

The Spanish side finished 15th in this season's league phase (W3 D1 L2), earning a knockout phase play-off tie against Gent they won 3-1 on aggregate (3-0 a, 0-1 h). They next faced Portugal's Vitória SC in the round of 16, when a 2-2 home draw in the first leg in Seville was followed by a 4-0 away victory in which Bakambu scored twice and Antony and Isco once each.

Their victory against Polish side Jagiellonia Białystok in the quarter-final (2-0 h, 1-1 a) has led Betis to their first UEFA competition semi-final. They are aiming to become the first Spanish side to reach the final of the Conference League.

Betis have progressed from six of the previous eight European ties when they won the first leg at home, most recently against Jagiellonia in the last eight of this season's competition.

Los Verdiblancos have lost just one of their last nine Conference League matches (W6 D2).

Manuel Pellegrini's team have opened the scoring in 11 of their last 12 Conference League matches; Bakambu has seven goals in his last eight appearances in the competition.

Betis' record in two UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W0 L2:
3-5 v Universitatea Craiova, 1984/85 UEFA Cup first round
3-4 v Sevilla, 2013/14 Europa League round of 16

Links and trivia

Betis defender Diego Llorente played for Italian side Roma in 2023/24, scoring his only league goal for the club in a 2-2 draw against Fiorentina.

Brazilian defender Natan is on loan at Betis from Napoli. He played in a 1-3 defeat to Fiorentina in October 2023.

Has also played in Italy:
Ricardo Rodríguez (Milan 2017–20, Torino 2020–24)

Betis' Pablo Fornals was a late substitute for West Ham in their 2-1 victory against Fiorentina in the final of the 2022/23 Conference League.

Have played together:
David De Gea & Antony (Manchester United 2022/23)
Rolando Mandragora & Ricardo Rodríguez (Torino 2021/22)
Yacine Adli & Youssouf Sabaly (Bordeaux 2019–22)

International team-mates:
David De Gea & Isco, Marc Bartra, Héctor Bellerín, Diego Llorente, Pablo Fornals (Spain)
Abde Ezzalzouli & Amir Richardson (Morocco)

Betis board member and club ambassador Joaquín Sánchez played for Fiorentina from 2013 to 2015, reaching the semi-finals of the Europa League in 2014/15 and losing to Betis' city rivals Sevilla.