Fiorentina’s Antonin Barak took the final lead in stoppage time at the end of extra time to take his team into the Europa Conference League final with a 3-1 win at Basel in the second leg of the semi-final on Thursday, with a 4-3 aggregate victory.
The victory is Fiorentina’s Europa final in 33 years. They last reached a European final when they lost to Juventus in the UEFA Cup competition in 1990.
They will next face West Ham United in Prague on June 7 after the Londoners beat AZ Alkmaar in their semi-final.
Fiorentina is also the first club to reach the finals of four UEFA competitions, having played in the European Cup, UEFA Cup, and Cup Winners’ Cup finals.
“Tonight we played like a mature team,” Fiore manager Vincenzo Italiano told DAZN. “It’s my first season in Europe and reaching the final is a great satisfaction. This path to the final will always remain with us but now we have a mission to complete.”
Basel won the first leg 2-1 and kept Fiorentina at bar with a good defensive strategy and counter-attacks.
However, Basel’s defense began to crack, and Fiorentina scored in the 35th minute when a corner was met by the unmarked Nicolas Gonzalez, who headed home to level the aggregate score at 2-2.
Just before the break, Basel’s goalkeeper Marwin Hitz made a remarkable one-hand save blocking Giacomo Bonaventura’s header from entering the net.
Zeki Amdouni then scored for Basel 10 minutes into the second half before Gonzalez responded in the 72nd with a well-placed shot, taking the match into extra time.
In the opening minutes of extra time, Hitz made another spectacular save when he blocked substitute Luka Jovic’s header with another stunning one-handed block.
Nine minutes into stoppage time in the extra period, Fiorentina’s Barak took a loose ball inside the box and scored from close range.
