Vanoli: ‘Fiorentina made big mistake against Jagiellonia’ after 3-0 victory

FLORENCE, ITALY – FEBRUARY 26: Paolo Vanoli of ACF Fiorentina looks on during the UEFA Conference League 2025/26 Knockout Play-off Second Leg match between ACF Fiorentina and Jagiellonia Bialystok at Stadio Artemio Franchi on February 26, 2026 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images)

Paolo Vanoli explains where Fiorentina got it so very wrong in the Conference League play-off with Jagiellonia. ‘We had the first leg in our minds.’

This was meant to be a relatively simple evening after winning the first leg 3-0 in Poland, but it proved to be anything but, as Jagiellonia won 3-0 at the Stadio Franchi with a Bartosz Mazurek hat-trick to force extra time.

The Viola did squeeze through 5-4 on aggregate, as Nicolò Fagioli’s lob and a double deflection on Moise Kean’s strike from a corner got them over the line, despite David De Gea’s howler on Jesus Imaz.

Vanoli survived Fiorentina scare

“What I really didn’t want was to go to extra time,” confessed Vanoli on Sky Sport Italia.

“We’ve got to realise that no matter what the result of the first leg, this is a totally new and different match. I didn’t want us to waste energy ahead of a tough Serie A game with Udinese, and so extra time was really not helpful.

“Having said that, we mustn’t see everything negative. I prefer to see this as another valuable lesson, as the team did come out of its shell eventually.”

Fiorentina had seemingly found their form before this with three consecutive victories in all competition, but this was a huge step backwards in terms of attitude and concentration.

“I had told the players to be more careful, that we had only won the first leg thanks to three set play situations. We made the mistake of stepping onto the field with the first leg result in our minds, and made life unnecessarily complicated for ourselves.”

There were also more injury setbacks, as Luca Lezzerini and Manor Solomon went off with muscular issues, though Albert Gudmundsson made his comeback in extra time.

“Both Solomon and Lezzerini felt pain in the rectus femoris, so I doubt either will be available for Monday,” explained Vanoli.

“Gosens had trauma to his cheekbone in extra time too, so that needs to be evaluated by the medical staff.”

The Tuscans will now go into the Conference League Round of 16, and tomorrow in the draw they’ll discover if they are facing RC Strasbourg or Rakow.

“I like the Conference League, I think it helps give us experience to keep improving,” concluded Vanoli.

“We have to change mentality and attitude, because it is different to Serie A. Whoever we get in the draw, we’ll think about it after the Udinese match.”