Purple rain falls on the Polish fortress

The Conference League: a competition designed specifically to ensure that Italian giants spend their Thursday nights in places that require three connecting flights and a sturdy coat. This week, Fiorentina find themselves in Częstochowa, a city famous for its spiritual pilgrimage site and now, apparently, for making Serie A millionaires feel deeply uncomfortable in the Polish chill.

Raków are the ultimate hipsters of the Ekstraklasa. They don’t have the century of history that their rivals boast, but they have the tactical discipline of a Swiss watchmaker on caffeine. Currently sitting near the top of their domestic pile, they’ve turned their home ground into a place where dreams of easy European points go to die. They will sit deep, they will clog the passing lanes, and they will hope that the Fiorentina defense remembers its traditional habit of falling asleep the moment someone mentions a set piece.

Fiorentina, meanwhile, are treating this trophy like a toxic relationship they just can’t quit. Two consecutive finals, two heartbreaking defeats, and yet here they are again, trekking across the continent. Raffaele Palladino has them playing some actually watchable football, which is a BOLD departure from the aesthetic crimes committed in Florence in recent years. With Moise Kean finally remembering which end of the pitch the goal is at, the Viola look like a team that actually belongs in a higher tier of European bureaucracy.

Expect Raków to defend like their lives depend on it while Fiorentina hog the ball and wonder if the local pierogi are worth the flight. The Polish side will be PHYSICAL, frustrating, and incredibly annoying to play against. However, quality eventually trumps grit, especially when the Italians realize that the sooner they score, the sooner they can get back to the warmth of Tuscany.

Prediction: Raków Częstochowa 0-2 Fiorentina