The stage is set. West Ham and Fiorentina will play each other in the Europa Conference League final.
Here’s how they booked their places in Prague?
AZ fail to find the net
AZ hoped to make another comeback in a home match, just like they had done against Anderlecht in the quarter-finals.
They also had in the back of their heads the fact they had taken the lead in the first leg, even though they then went on to concede two more goals
With this hope, fans arrived at the AFAS Stadion hoping that their team would make it.
But AZ failed to find the net time and time again and, as the game reached its dying embers, West Ham countered and scored.
The Hammers are now celebrating their first continental final since 1976, when they lost in the Cup Winners’ Cup.
What it means 🥰@WestHam || #UECL pic.twitter.com/Ub1GTSckYd
— UEFA Europa Conference League (@europacnfleague) May 18, 2023
Fiorentina’s comeback
No Swiss team has ever played in the final of a continental competition.
With their lead from the first leg, FC Basel had an opportunity to make it in front of their home crowd, but Fiorentina showed that that wasn’t going to be easy,
Nicolás González scored the first for Fiorentina in the 35th minute, and tied the aggregate score.
Zeki Amdouni, who brought Basel to this stage, equalised just after half time.
Fiorentina didn’t give up, and a second González goal took the game to extra time.
Following a long delay due to a medical incident in the crowd, Fiorentina sealed their spot in the final.
In the 129th minute, Antonín Barák found the net and scored the winning goal.
The Czech international had previously played in the Fortuna Arena, the location of this year’s final, for one season as a Slavia Prague player.
Now he has scored an important goal for his club that will see him return to his homeland.
Edited by Alex Smith
Prague bound 😎#UECLfinal || @acffiorentina pic.twitter.com/Vrf8DhuFco
— UEFA Europa Conference League (@europacnfleague) May 18, 2023
