Fiorentina had a 3-0 aggregate lead over Borussia Monchengladbach, but self-destructed under a Lars Stindl hat-trick to crash out of the Europa League 4-3.
The Viola were beaten 4-2 on the night at the Stadio Franchi, 4-3 on aggregate, and Coach Paulo Sousa has to be at risk now.
See how this game and Roma-Villarreal unfolded on the Liveblog.
Fiorentina had a 3-0 aggregate lead over Borussia Monchengladbach, but self-destructed under a Lars Stindl hat-trick to crash out of the Europa League 4-3.
The Viola were beaten 4-2 on the night at the Stadio Franchi, 4-3 on aggregate, and Coach Paulo Sousa has to be at risk now.
See how this game and Roma-Villarreal unfolded on the Liveblog.
Federico Bernardeschi’s stunning free kick gave the Viola a 1-0 first leg victory in Germany, but that result did not reflect the performance, so the tie was certainly still open and Sousa fielded perhaps his best XI. Raffael was still only fit for the bench.
The Germans, who are eighth in the Bundesliga, started very aggressive and were having a lot of joy down the left flank. After seven minutes Fiorentina were salvaged by a bit of luck, as Jannik Vestergaard’s diving header on a corner from point-blank range bounced off the upright and into the slightly surprised arms of Ciprian Tatarusanu.
However, Fiorentina broke the deadlock against the run of play when Bernardeschi gathered inside his own half, ran forward and placed a through ball for Nikola Kalinic, whose angled drive beat Jan Sommer. It was his fifth goal in seven Europa League games.
That changed the momentum of the game and the Viola threatened a second on Borja Valero’s cross, as Sommer made two desperate point-blank range saves on Federico Chiesa and then Bernardeschi.
Mahmoud Dahoud fired over from eight yards under pressure from Milan Badelj and the visitors lost Thorgen Hazard to injury.
It got worse for Gladbach, as moments later Vestergaard literally gifted a goal to Borja Valero with his comical fresh-air clearance. It was a fine way for the Spaniard to mark his 200th appearance in a Fiorentina jersey.
Just as the hosts seemed to be playing their best football, Gladbach received a soft penalty. Tatarusanu got down for a one-handed save on Josip Drmic and moments later Jonas Hofmann was sandwiched between two defenders as the cross came in. Lars Stindl rolled it one way with goalkeeper going the other for the first German goal of the tie.
Straight after the restart, Fiorentina did not deal with a corner at all well and Stindl tapped in the rebound from six yards for 2-2, crucially also their second away goal.
Kalinic really should’ve scored moments later when he was sent clear by a Bernardeschi through ball, but hesitated and allowed himself to be closed down.
That proved a costly error, as Gladbach took the lead for the first time in the tie – and were now ahead on aggregate thanks to away goals – when a free kick was taken short for Stindl to drill low from the edge of the box into the near bottom corner. It was the joint-fastest hat-trick in Europa League history.
The total and utter collapse of Fiorentina was complete, as once again they failed to defend from a set play. Hofmann played out the corner in acres of space and chipped up the cross for Andreas Christensen’s header from close range, adding a fourth for Borussia Monchengladbach.
Paulo Sousa threw on Josip Ilicic, who within three minutes had thumped the crossbar with a trademark free kick. Chiesa went down under a challenge in the box, but the referee was very close and waved play on.
Fiorentina 2-4 (3-4 agg)
Kalinic 16 (F), Borja Valero 29 (F), Stindl pen 44, 47, 55 (B), Christensen 60 (B)
Fiorentina: Tatarusanu; Sanchez, Gonzalo Rodriguez, Astori; Chiesa, Badelj (Babacar 64), Vecino, Olivera; Borja Valero, Bernardeschi (Ilicic 64); Kalinic
Borussia Monchengladbach: Sommer; Jantschke, Christensen, Vestergaard, Wendt; Herrmann, Kramer, Dahoud (Strobl 80), Hofmann (Johnson 73); Hazard (Drmic 27), Stindl
Ref: Dias (POR)