Puskas Academy are one game away from history when they take on Fiorentina in Thursday's Europa Conference League playoff round second leg at Pancho Arena.
The Hungarian side have never advanced to the main draw of any European competition, and they seek to get the better of the two-time Conference League runners-up after a creditable 3-3 draw in the reverse fixture in Florence.
Match preview
A commendable showing for Puskas last week saw them punish Fiorentina by scoring twice to open a two-goal advantage and find a late equaliser when they thought they had thrown away their early lead.
Wojciech Golla's 89th-minute equaliser gave Zsolt Hornyak's men a crucial draw, leaving them just one positive result away from eliminating their Italian opponents and securing their first-ever participation in the competition proper on the continent.
Having never made it past the second qualifying round in previous years — eliminated in the Europa League first qualifying round in 2020-21 and Conference League second qualifying round in consecutive seasons before this campaign — Puskas hope to notch a historic place in the newest continental club competition at the third time of asking and a fourth try altogether.
Their third qualifying round success over Ararat included a 3-3 draw as well, underlining the Hungarian side's penchant for going all out and accepting high-scoring matches, with the tie decided by their 1-0 first-leg victory over the Armenian outfit.
A similar margin of victory against Fiorentina will suffice on Thursday, and the home support hope their side pull out all the stops to achieve European success.
The away side may be two-time Conference League finalists, but they have had a far-from-ideal start to the new term under Raffaele Palladino, going winless in three competitive matches.
While their clean sheet against Venezia in round two in Serie A was an undoubted positive — having played eight competitive and non-competitive matches without a shutout — the Viola's inability to find the net against a newly promoted side on home turf was disappointing.
They seek that elusive first win under their new boss on Thursday, keen to avoid the embarrassment of going out to a club with minimal experience at this level and one with inferior quality on paper.
After struggling with conceding goals before their gameweek two draw with Venezia, Palladino's men hope to find the balance between attack and defence to take them past the threat of a motivated Puskas.
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Team News
Zsolt Nagy has scored three times in as many rounds, including a brace in the 3-3 draw with Ararat and one in last week's six-goal thriller, making him the home side's star attacker heading into Thursday.
With no reported injuries for Puskas since last week's first leg, Hornyak has a healthy squad for Thursday after a week's rest.
It remains to be seen if David de Gea keeps his spot as the seeming goalkeeper for Fiorentina in Europe after conceding three times on his return last week.
Albert Gudmundsson (calf) and Jonathan Ikone (muscle) are possible absentees for the Italian side ahead of the Viola's visit to Pancho Arena.
Puskas Academy possible starting lineup:
Pecsi; Maceiras, Golla, Stronati, Ormonde-Ottewill; Favorov, Pisek; Soisalo, Nissila, Nagy; Puljic
Fiorentina possible starting lineup:
De Gea; Quarta, Pongracic, Ranieri; Dodo, Amrabat, Mandragora, Biraghi; Colpani, Beltran, Sottil
We say: Puskas Academy 1-1 Fiorentina (Puskas to win on penalties)
While Palladino pointed to improvements after another draw at the weekend, his Fiorentina side are yet to sparkle and could come unstuck against a motivated Hungarian outfit keen to record an unprecedented success at the Italian club's expense.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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