De Gea: ‘Fiorentina must be calm, because Betis fans go completely crazy’ in 1st leg

David De Gea insists Fiorentina ‘need to be calm’ in the Conference League semi-final, because the Real Betis fans ‘will go completely crazy’ in the opening minutes.

It kicks off at the Estadio Benito Villamarin in Seville at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT, 21.00 CET).

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens on the Liveblog.

The Viola are trying to reach their third consecutive Conference League Final, whereas this is the first ever semi-final of a UEFA tournament for Real Betis.

De Gea knows Betis atmosphere

“It is very important that we start strong, the opening minutes are fundamental, especially here when the fans will go completely crazy as soon as the whistle goes,” De Gea told Sky Sport Italia.

“We need to be calm, try to control the tempo of the game, show character, hopefully score more goals than them and bring home a good result.”

The decider will be at the Stadio Artemio Franchi on Thursday May 8.

De Gea did not give Isco any ideas

Isco suggested in the build-up that he would call the goalkeeper to ask about Fiorentina, so did the Betis veteran get in touch with De Gea?

“We will talk after the game. It’s true, I have many good friends in the Betis squad, I played with many of them, but I wear the Fiorentina jersey now and we hope it will be a great night for us.”

The other Conference League semi-final this evening is between Chelsea and Djurgarden, so one of these four teams will lift the trophy.

Unfortunately, that kind of home advantage will not be available for Fiorentina in the second leg, because the Stadio Artemio Franchi is undergoing extensive reconstruction work and the capacity is severely limited.