La Viola are 2-1 down from the first leg of their semi-final against the Verdiblanocs, but will use all of their experience in the competition - they've reached the final in the last two seasons - to overcome their visitors.
Real Betis stand in way of third consecutive Conference League final
Losing to West Ham United two seasons ago and to Olympiacos last season means there's still an itch there that Fiorentina need to scratch, so will it be third time lucky?
With Chelsea almost certain to meet the winners of this semi in the showpiece later this month, it's going to be a tough ask for whoever triumphs.
In terms of current form, the Spanish outfit have won four and drawn one of their last five, whilst the Italians have lost their last two games (the first-leg against Betis and a Serie A match at Roma), won two and drawn one.
Manchester United flop, Antony, has seen a real resurgence in his form since joining Betis on loan, and Raffaele Palladino might want his defenders to pay special attention to the Brazilian wide man to ensure that he doesn't have too much of an influence over the 90 minutes.
Another ex-United ace, David de Gea, will be in opposition and looking to stop Antony and his teammates from writing the morning headlines, so it's worth taking a look at just how well the 34-year-old has taken to life in Florence.
Let's not forget the huge amount of time he spent in the footballing wilderness, seemingly unable to find a club to take a chance on him, reportedly because of his salary demands.
De Gea showing he is worthy of the No.1 shirt
Whether or not there's any truth to that part of the story, Fiorentina deserve plaudits for bringing in such an experienced custodian when others baulked at the opportunity.
De Gea has been the No.1 keeper since joining the club, starting in all 36 games that he's played and completing every possible minute.
One of the apparent issues with the Spaniard was his distribution, and taken as a standalone reading, his 69.8% pass completion stat from this season doesn't appear to make for great reading.
However, over the course of this season, De Gea has played 911 passes, which was only bettered in the 2022/23 Premier League, taking into account the past few seasons.
His 1083 passes in that campaign were impressive, though his accuracy (68.3%) was lower than presently, and whilst he has more impressive stats in this regard in other seasons - 74.8% in Man United's 22/23 Europa League campaign, for example - he only made 314 passes in that tournament.
An improvement, however slight, might suggest that Erik ten Hag was far too quick to make a judgment after his assessment of De Gea's abilities.
Improvement in many areas
If we break it down even further, given that his long ball distribution was often criticised, here too the Spaniard is excelling.
39.7% again doesn't look much on paper until you see that his best reading for the Red Devils over the past few seasons was 29.7%.
He's also been involved in play a lot more with his current 1,178 touches of the ball, more than in each competition played over the past few seasons for United, bar the 22/23 Premier League campaign (1,371).
He's won all nine of his one-on-one duels with opposition strikers this season, giving him a 100% showing to equal recent campaigns, whilst his 207 ball recoveries are better than any of the last three seasons he's played in.
Commanding his box brilliantly too, De Gea has won six aerial duels from six contested in 24/25, which is just shy of his eight successes from eight attempts in this regard during the 2021/22 season.
32 goals conceded in Serie A compares to 43 and 57 in his final two seasons at Old Trafford, whilst 30 clearances made is also an uplift over the same period.
The latter could indicate, of course, that de Gea has been kept much busier, but a lack of goals conceded by him only underscores his excellence between the posts.
De Gea far from being finished as a goalkeeper
What's clear from delving into the figures is that the Spaniard clearly isn't finished as a goalkeeper, and still has years left at the top level.
If Ten Hag always wanted to bring in his own man in Andre Onana - who many see as error-prone in any event - there was a much more professional and acceptable way to let De Gea know that his services were no longer required.
That the keeper has gone on to produce some of his best work over the past few years during the current season will be a real kick in the teeth for a Premier League club that continue to lurch from one crisis to the next.
If De Gea is able to keep Real Betis at bay on Thursday night too, and help earn his side a place in another Conference League showpiece in the process, he'll be well on the way to having the last laugh over his former employers.
