Fiorentina overturned a first leg defeat and beat Basel 3-1 in the last seconds of extra time to set up the Europa Conference League Final against West Ham United.
The Viola conceded two late goals in the first leg for a 2-1 defeat, so needed a victory at St. Jakob-Park to reach the Final. Nikola Milenkovic returned from suspension, while the hosts rested all their players for a 6-1 weekend defeat to San Gallo, ensuring they had fresh legs for this match.
Sofyan Amrabat brought down Augustin on a dangerous counter-attack, but Dan Ndoye had a couple of strong sprints, one drilled wide, the other resulting in an Igor yellow card.
Fiorentina found that they were most dangerous in the air, Nico Gonzalez with a looping header that skimmed the far top corner, a save on Giacomo Bonaventura, then the Argentine opened the scoring with another header from a Cristiano Biraghi corner.
That made it 2-2 on aggregate and Bonaventura almost added another before the break, his header on the Dodo cross denied by a Marwin Hitz save.
Instead, Basel equalised after the restart, with Andy Pelmard floating a pass over the top and Zeki Amdouni surprising Igor, cutting inside to score from a tight angle.
Bonaventura volleyed onto the roof of the net from a Biraghi cross, but Nico Gonzalez was in the right place at the right time to fire in the rebound from a poorly cleared Dodo cross.
Corners continued to be the big danger for the Viola, as Milenkovic’s header into the ground bounced up and inches over the bar.
It went to extra time, 3-3 on aggregate, and Fiorentina continued to be the most aggressive side, forcing saves from Hitz with Luka Jovic and Nico Gonzalez headers.
Play was halted for eight minutes during the second half of extra time when a fan was taken ill in the away section.
Jovic wasted a huge opportunity in the final moments, firing a half-volley over when he had so much time and space on the Ikone cross flicked on by Antonin Barak.
Basel threatened too with Amdouni and Lang efforts charged down, but Fiorentina struck in the final moments when Jovic knocked down a cross, Pelmard crashed into a teammate when trying to clear, so accidentally set up Barak to drill in from close range.
Jovic almost had another soon after, but went clear only to thump the base of the near post. It’s going to be a remarkable end to the season for Fiorentina, who also face Inter in the Coppa Italia Final on May 24.
Basel 1-3 Fiorentina aet (3-4 agg)
Nico Gonzalez 35, 72 (F), Amdouni 55 (B), Barak 129 (F)
Player statistic
| 21' |  |
Igor | ||
| 35' |  |
Nicólas González (Assist: Cristiano Biraghi) |
| Zeki Amdouni (Assist: Andy Pelmard) |
|
55' | ||
| 59' | |
Luca Ranieri | ||
| 72' | |
Nicólas González | ||
| Wouter Burger | |
90' | ||
| 90' | |
Nicólas González |
| 95' | |
Jonathan Ikoné | ||
| 104' | |
Giacomo Bonaventura | ||
| 120+9' | |
Antonin Barak | ||
| 120+9' | |
Antonin Barak |
Match statistic
