Fiorentina, Juventus on collision course
Fiorentina and Juventus will both be taking different approaches to their Europa League round of 32 clashes on Thursday night, with the common goal of a last-16 meeting.
The Viola defend a 3-1 advantage over Esbjerg when they welcome the Danish side to the Stadio Artemio Franchi while Juventus need to see a 2-0 advantage over Trabzonspor through to the end in Turkey.
Victory for both Serie A sides would set up an all-Italian clash while also ensuring three games between the antagonists in just over a week, following their Serie A meeting at the Juventus Stadium on March 9.
Due to the hectic schedule qualification would produce, Juve coach Antonio Conte says he is "obliged" to rotate his side. "We've got a great deal of enthusiasm for this competition," he said at a news conference. "It's a competition which will see all of our squad involved.
"In the first leg, those players who haven't been getting as much of a game lately did a good job and I expect them to do even better tomorrow. If we do it well, we'll go through. We've got a lot of respect for Trabzonspor. We know what quality they've got up front. We're not going to sit on our two-goal lead because we know how important a goal would be."
Fiorentina may be in a more comfortable position in their tie, but coach Vincenzo Montella has no intention of following Conte's example. "I'm picking my strongest team," he said. "There's always a risk you don't take games like these seriously enough so I've got to keep all of my players motivated and on their toes if we want to go through."
Mario Gomez could make his first start since September with the player "in need of continuity to get into a match rhythm," although Montella does not want to take any risks on the Germany international either. "I'll see how things go in training and ask him how he feels," Montella said.
Victory for both sides would set up a last-16 meeting with the first leg taking place at the Juventus Stadium on March 13 with the second leg a week later in Florence.