Conference League R16 official line-ups: Fiorentina vs. Rakow
Fiorentina believe Roberto Piccoli and Jacopo Fazzini can inspire them in the Conference League Round of 16 with Polish side Rakow Czestochowa.
It kicks off at the Stadio Artemio Franchi at 20.00 GMT (21.00 CET).
The Viola scraped through to the Round of 16 after an extraordinary play-off with Jagiellonia, where they won the first leg 3-0 away, lost the second by the same result at home, just managing to get through in extra time, 5-4 on aggregate.
They had been on such good form until that game, which proved to be the start of a downward trend of two defeats and a 0-0 draw with Parma.
Coach Paolo Vanoli is missing suspended Marin Pongracic, injured Moise Kean, Manor Solomon, Luca Lezzerini and Tariq Lamptey.
He also faces the pressure of resting players for the upcoming crucial Serie A relegation battle with Cremonese.
With that in mind, Piccoli leads the attack flanked by Jacopo Fazzini and in a more advanced role than usual Fabiano Parisi.
David De Gea is rested in favour of Oliver Christensen, with Rolando Mandragora and Giovanni Fabbian in midfield.
Rakow are currently fourth in the Polish top flight, but finished second in the Conference League opening phase thanks to four victories and two draws.
They are above all else solid, conceding just two goals in those six league phase matches.
This club won the Polish title for the first time in 2023 and faced Atalanta in the Champions League the following season.
Their star striker is Norwegian Jonatan Braut Brunes, who is a cousin of Erling Haaland and scored 20 goals in all competition this term.
However, their top scorer in the Conference League is Lamine Diaby-Fadiga on six goals, thanks largely to his hat-trick against Rapid Vienna.
Another odd Serie A link is defender Fran Tudor, nephew of ex-Juventus and current Tottenham Hotspur coach Igor Tudor.
Fiorentina vs. Rakow line-ups
Fiorentina: Christensen; Fortini, Comuzzo, Ranieri, Gosens; Fabbian, Mandragora, Ndour; Parisi, Piccoli, Fazzini
Fiorentina bench: De Gea, Leonardelli, Dodo, Gudmundsson, Harrison, Fagioli, Kouadio, Braschi, Balbo, Bonanno, Sadotti
Rakow: Zych; Tudor, Racovitan, Svarnas; Ameyaw, Repka, Struski, Plenkp; Makuch, Brunes, Lopez
Rakow bench: Trelowski, Czeremski, Mosor, Bulat, Amorim, Leonardo Rocha, Napieraj, Arsenic, Ilenic, Mircetic, Diaby-Fadiga
Ref: Kabakov (BUL)