Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner acknowledges that Fiorentina’s attacking setup in the Conference League quarter-final is “more attacking than we expected.” He stated, “We know how they’re going to play and what we want to do.”
The match is scheduled to commence at the Stadio Artemio Franchi at 20:00 UK time (21:00 CEST).
Crystal Palace has made only one change to their lineup from the previous match in London, which is a forced substitution due to an injury to Evann Guessand. “We rotated against Newcastle, so the three players in the front and two midfielders should be fresh. In defence, they are doing so well, so it’s all good,” Glasner informed TNT Sports.
Glasner Notes Fiorentina’s Tactical Adjustments
Fiorentina faces a significant challenge after a 3-0 defeat in the first leg at Selhurst Park. Their task is further complicated by the suspension of Dodo and the unavailability of injured players such as Moise Kean, Marco Brescianini, Fabiano Parisi, Tariq Lamptey, and Niccolò Fortini.
With little to lose, Fiorentina’s coach Paolo Vanoli has opted for an aggressive 4-2-3-1 formation. This setup features two creative midfielders supporting Jack Harrison, Albert Gudmundsson, Manor Solomon, and Roberto Piccoli.
“Perhaps it’s a bit more attacking than we anticipated. Solomon is more of a winger than Gudmundsson was when he played in that role; he’s more of a Number 10, which is where we expect him to be today,” Glasner admitted. “Comuzzo, of course, is a centre-back and not as attacking as Dodo. I believe in April, you can’t change your style of play, so you have to rely on what you do well.”
“We have a good understanding of their expected approach, and we know what our strategy will be against them.”
Playing on home turf with a 3-0 deficit to overcome, Fiorentina is expected to start with high intensity. “We anticipate them being more aggressive than they were at Selhurst Park, playing man-to-man, applying a lot of pressure. They will likely look to exploit pockets of space with flick-ons, one-touch passes, and inverted wingers cutting inside to deliver crosses, with three players in the box,” Glasner observed.
“That’s how they play. Similarly, we aim to move the ball quickly to the flanks to find space and create opportunities. When playing over two legs, this is the situation, but we have confidence in ourselves and our playing style. We saw in the Champions League yesterday that at this stage of the competition, the games are always closely contested, and we expect the same here.”
