Fiorentina vs Crystal Palace; UEFA Conference League Quarter-finals
Fiorentina vs Crystal Palace. UEFA Conference League Quarter-finals.
Artemio Franchi.
Fiorentina 2
- A Gudmundsson (30th minute pen)
- C Ndour (53rd minute)
Crystal Palace 1
- I Sarr (17th minute)
2-4
Fiorentina 2-1 Crystal Palace (Agg: 2-4): Eagles reach Conference League semi-finals despite defeat in Florence
Report as Crystal Palace set up a UEFA Conference League semi-final clash with Shakhtar Donetsk after beating Fiorentina 4-2 on aggregate; Ismaila Sarr opened the scoring before Fiorentina fought back, scoring twice; Adam Wharton and Maxence Lacroix came off injured in the first half
Thursday 16 April 2026 23:24, UK
Crystal Palace booked their place in the Conference League semi-finals with a 4-2 aggregate victory over Fiorentina despite losing the second leg 2-1 in Florence.
When Ismaila Sarr powered in an early header, it looked like it would be more plain sailing for the Eagles, who had a four-goal aggregate lead at that point following their 3-0 win at Selhurst Park.
However, the Italian side fought back on the night, scoring either side of the early injury substitutions of Adam Wharton and Maxence Lacroix.
Although La Viola's second-leg display somewhat atoned for their underwhelming first-leg efforts, it was not quite enough to stop Palace reaching their first European semi-final, where they will meet Shakhtar Donetsk. Palace are the fifth English club to reach the Conference League last four after Chelsea, West Ham, Leicester and Aston Villa.
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Jaydee Canvot gifted Fiorentina their first glimmer of hope when he felled Rolando Mandragora in the box, catching the Fiorentina man late. Albert Gudmundsson kept his cool to send Dean Henderson the wrong way from the penalty spot.
As the penalty was awarded, play had been pulled to a halt as Wharton was down in some discomfort, after no apparent contact.
The England international, who has dealt with his fair share of injuries this season, limped off and was replaced by Jefferson Lerma after just 30 minutes played. Lacroix soon followed suit, with Oliver Glasner taking no chances, replacing the French centre-back with Chadi Riad on the brink of half-time.
Palace began the second half, also missing the presence of Jean-Philippe Mateta, who did not emerge after the break with Jorgen Strand Larsen on in his place.
Cher Ndour's stunning goal from range came during a promising spell for Fiorentina, but, despite plugging away to test Henderson, their victory on the night was in vain.
Conference League semi-finals
Crystal Palace will meet Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Conference League semi-finals after the Ukrainian side beat AZ Alkmaar 5-2 over two legs to book their spot in the last four.
Palace will have a second-leg advantage, meaning they will host Shakhtar in the return leg at Selhurst Park, after travelling to Poland for the first leg, which is where they play their home games due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The first leg is on April 30, while the second leg will take place on May 7.
Palace continue to defy the odds as more history beckons
Crystal Palace were not supposed to be in this competition. But after being demoted to the Conference League as a result of UEFA ownership rules, they are still making history.
Palace are in touching distance of the final in Leipzig but it has been far from smooth sailing.
Glasner will want to put a bow on the most successful period in Palace's history by banking the club's first European trophy.
However, there was a time in the season when he, in his own words, felt abandoned. Palace were not ready for their workload after losing key players in the summer and again in January.
Injuries also rocked Palace, whose domestic form wilted as a result.
Against the odds, though, Palace continue their European dream.
Henderson: To write a new chapter in the book is phenomenal
Palace 'keeper Dean Henderson on TNT Sports:
"This is unbelievable for this football club, the FA Cup last year, but to keep going and write a new chapter in the book is phenomenal.
"The fans have stuck by us in the difficult times this season and hopefully we can deliver them something really special.
"It was a very tough game, you do not really know how it will go, 3-0 is a dangerous scoreline and we have managed to get through, so who cares!
"I did not see the second one. That is what the aim is [to win the competition], with this group, business time of the season, we come together.
"It was our day today and we now need to just keep going and build momentum."
Glasner: We made it tough but deserve to be in semi-finals
Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner said despite making it tough in the second leg his side are fully deserving of their spot in the semi-finals.
"In the quarter-final, it's never easy," Glasner told TNT Sports.
"And it made it a little bit tougher than it could have been with a great start into the game, taking the lead. We're having a big chance after two or three minutes with Daniel Munoz and then with the penalty, Fiorentina got the belief back.
"It was really a very difficult game to manage, to be honest, also for the players. Making two subs in the first half reduces the options we had to react to. That's why we subbed JP [Mateta] already at half-time, because we knew he couldn't play maybe 90 minutes.
"And in the second half, it was a great strike. All of a sudden, we were 2-1 down and it was quite early in the second half. And then the reaction was great again.
"I think then we didn't play really attacking football, but we defended very well and the team showed great resilience today. And in the knockout stages, sometimes it's not always playing the best football. You need different skills and today it was really being resilient and working hard, sticking together and the team did it.
"So I think afterwards we didn't give them a big chance. And that's why over the two games, I think we deserved to play the semi-final."
Speaking in his post-match news conference, Glasner revealed Wharton had to come off after he felt pain in his abductor.
"That's why he had to leave the England camp last week, so let's see how bad it is," Glasner said.
Glasner revealed Lacroix suffered a medial ligament injury in his knee but hopes it is not "too serious".
