Paulo Sousa blamed Fiorentina’s “slow tempo” for the 2-1 Europa League home defeat to Lech Poznan.

The hosts dominated the game, but were beaten by the only two real shots on target.

“We played with a slow tempo because our opponents today sat so deep with two very tight lines,” Sousa told Sky Sport Italia.

Paulo Sousa blamed Fiorentina’s “slow tempo” for the 2-1 Europa League home defeat to Lech Poznan.

The hosts dominated the game, but were beaten by the only two real shots on target.

“We played with a slow tempo because our opponents today sat so deep with two very tight lines,” Sousa told Sky Sport Italia.

“Our lines at times were not in the right position to recover the ball. We had a great opportunity early on and if we’d scored, the spaces would’ve opened up and confidence would grow, but instead Poznan got more confident as the minutes ticked away.

“We should’ve taken our clear scoring opportunities, but we did not make the most of them. The movement of certain players wasn’t great either, it was an issue of timing and this meant we couldn’t find the spaces.

“Against very defensive sides like this you have to run a few more risks and go one-against-one, trying to shoot from distance if needs be.

“Our opponents sat so deep and our only option was to shoot from distance or the edge of the box.”

It's the second home defeat of the Europa League for Fiorentina, won won 4-0 away to Belenenses, so they drop to the foot of the group.

That's because leaders Basel surprisingly also lost 2-1 at home to Belenenses.

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