The New Saints will realise their long-standing dream of playing group stage European football when they visit Serie A side Fiorentina in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday night.
This is the game that all eyes have been on since the draw for the competition’s newly-rebranded ‘league phase’ was made at the end of August, a day after the Saints’ goalless draw against FK Panevezys secured a historic 3-0 aggregate victory in the play-off round.
Craig Harrison’s side will also travel to Shamrock Rovers and Celje – while hosting Astana, Djurgarden and Panathinaikos at Shrewsbury’s Croud Meadow – but Matchday One tests don’t come much tougher than away at La Viola.
Only Chelsea, FC Copenhagen and KAA Gent were ranked higher in the league phase draw than Fiorentina, who have reached the final of this competition in the last two seasons but lost to West Ham United and Olympiacos respectively.
Get to know Fiorentina
Fans of a certain generation will have grown up with Fiorentina’s iconic team of the 1990s – featuring the likes of Gabriel Batistuta and Rui Costa – but their current side also contains multiple star names.
Former Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea is arguably the most-high profile, with the Spaniard ending his year in the football wilderness by moving to Tuscany in the summer. Forward Moise Kean counts spells at Juventus, PSG and Everton on his CV, while German international Robin Gosens played in the UEFA Champions League final for Inter Milan only last year.
Raffaele Palladino is the man in the dugout at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, replacing Vincenzo Italiano in the summer, and has led his new side to one win, four draws and one defeat in Serie A so far this season – placing them 11th in the table. Remarkably, Fiorentina came close to elimination from the UEFA Conference League in the play-off round as they needed a penalty shootout to progress past Hungarian side Puskás Akadémia.
“There’s no pressure on us, they’re such a massive team,” Saints captain Danny Redmond told the BBC. “But we’re there on merit as well, we’ve earned the right to be there and the lads are looking forward to it.
“We’ve just got to go out there, do what we do and hopefully give a good account of ourselves. We know how difficult it will be, but we’ve just got to enjoy it and take in the experience.”
A 6-1 victory away at Newtown in the JD Cymru Premier last Friday will have come as a welcome reassurance to TNS, who were threatening to head to Tuscany in their worst form in years after losing back-to-back games to Penybont and Bala Town – their first league defeats since March 2023.
There is no doubt that the Saints defence is in for a busy evening in Florence, but centre-back duo Danny Davies and Jack Bodenham have formed a strong partnership since the latter’s arrival in the summer and they helped keep three consecutive clean sheets in the European qualifying rounds.
2023/24 JD Cymru Premier Player of the Season Sion Bradley was used sparingly off the bench in qualifying, but his form in the league – six goals in seven appearances – may have put him in contention for a starting spot on Thursday.
Adam Wilson, on loan from Bradford City, will also hope to provide a goal threat, while it was a boost to see Declan McManus make a return from injury by coming off the bench against Newtown and finding the scoresheet.
Watch Fiorentina v The New Saints live on TNT Sports 4 from 7:45pm on Thursday night, with kick-off at 8pm.
