Palace in Europe: Get to know ACF Fiorentina

Club

16 Apr 2026

Crystal Palace face ACF Fiorentina away in the second leg of the quarter-finals of the UEFA Conference League tonight, seeking a historic place the final four.

How to watch and follow Thursday night's second leg in Florence.
Everything you need to know about Palace in Europe.

With a 3-0 lead from the first leg at Selhurst Park, the Eagles head to Stadio Artemio Franchi to take on the Serie A outfit for a place in the final four of the competition.

Fiorentina were one of the pre-tournament favourites before the season began, and have an excellent record in this competition over recent years.

Ahead of what promises to be a bumper second leg, let’s find out a little more about our Italian opponents…

A brief history

Known as La Viola (the Purples) due to their distinctive, stylish kit, Fiorentina were originally founded in 1926.

They have two Scudetto titles to their name, bringing the league title to Tuscany in both 1955/56 and 1968/69.

1956/57 also saw them reach the final of the European Cup in only the competition’s second season, where ultimately, they were beaten by Spanish giants Real Madrid 2-0 at Bernabéu.

Historically, Fiorentina have always been considered one of Italy’s top clubs, with only Inter, Juventus, Roma and Milan having competed in more Serie A seasons.

The Viola’s ‘golden era’ came in the late-1980s/1990s where they were a force in European competition. Having finished as UEFA Cup runners-up in 1989, under the ownership of Cecchi Gori they signed the likes of Brian Laudrop, Rui Costa, Stefan Effenberg – and, most famously, Argentine forward Gabriel Batistuta over the next decade.

Batistuta would become the club’s leading goalscorer in Serie A with 152 strikes for the Viola, helping them to a Coppa Italia crown in 1995/96, whilst also finishing joint-third in the league.

They followed that up with a Supercoppa title the following season, whilst also reaching the semi-finals of the old UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, only losing to eventual winners Barcelona.

Bankrupted by years of mismanagement, Fiorentina were relegated to Italy's fourth division, Serie C2, in 2002 – forced to start close from scratch.

Star players had to leave and a ‘Phoenix’ club was formed to ensure football would continue in the Renaissance city.

By June 2004 they had already won their place back in Italian football’s top-flight, with a 2-1 play-off win against Perugia.

In 2019, Fiorentina was sold to Italian-American billionaire Rocco Commisso for around €160million. Commisso died earlier this year, immediately succeeded by his son Giuseppe as the club’s president.

Under coach Vincenzo Italiano, who arrived in 2021, Fiorentina reached the UEFA Conference League final in both 2023 and 2024, only to be narrowly defeated on both occasions, by West Ham and then Olympiacos.

Familiar faces

Paolo Vanoli’s side contains a number of players who have spent time in the Premier League.

Leeds United midfielder Jack Harrison is currently on-loan at Fiorentina and is the sole Englishman in their squad. Former Premier League title-winner and Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea joined in 2024, and is the club captain.

Former Everton striker Moise Kean has eight goals in Serie A this season and leads the club’s goalscoring charts.

Ex-Brighton man Tariq Lamptey moved to Fiorentina on transfer deadline day back in September. However, he suffered an ACL tear not long after joining and is currently sidelined as he continues his recovery.

Stadium

The Stadio Artemio Franchi has been home to the Viola since first opening in 1931.

With a record attendance of 58,271 – for Fiorentina’s match against Inter – the stadium has a usual capacity of 47,832. However, due to significant renovation work, at the moment the capacity is around the 22,000 mark.

The stadium hosted fixtures at both the 1934 and 1990 FIFA World Cups, as well as concerts from the likes of David Bowie, Madonna and Bruce Springsteen.

Season so far

Fiorentina seem to have found form at the right time in their season after a difficult start to 2025/26.

In Serie A, a first win didn’t arrive for the Viola until mid-December. In their 16th game of the campaign, Udinese were thrashed 5-1 with Kean scoring twice as their season belatedly got going.

The new year has seen an upturn in fortunes. A run of eight points from four games, which included a point away at Lazio, helped lift them off the foot of the table.

A 3-0 defeat at Udinese at the start of the month was followed up with a three-match unbeaten run before the international break, topped off by holding league leaders Inter to a draw at Stadio Artemio Franchi.

At the time of writing, the Viola lie two points and two places clear of the relegation zone with eight games to play.

The UEFA Conference League campaign has proved more successful, although Fiorentina did have to navigate the play-off round after finishing 15th in the league phase.

Defeats to Mainz, AEK Athens and Lausanne-Sport were offset by wins over Sigma Olomouc, Rapid Wien and Dynamo Kyiv.

Polish side Jagiellonia Białystok were seen off 5-4 on aggregate in the play-offs, before their league rivals Raków Częstochow were beaten 2-1, both home and away, for a 4-2 aggregate victory for the Italians in the Round of 16.

That set up a last-eight meeting with the Eagles, where Palace stormed into a commanding 3-0 first leg lead.

Match Details

Fiorentina v Crystal Palace

Thursday, 16th April
20:00 BST
UEFA Conference League quarter-final, second leg
Artemio Franchi Stadium
Live audio commentary on Palace TV+

Related News

More News