Fiorentina falls in Greece, loses Round of 16 first leg

Fiorentina suffered a chaotic 3-2 first leg defeat away to Panathinaikos, in the UEFA Conference League.

Despite scoring twice in three minutes to level the scoreline, the Italian side fell to the Greek side.

Panathinaikos took a very early lead as Djuricic through ball met Karol Swiderski, who swept it into the top corner.

The Greek side then doubled their lead when Pietro Terracciano horribly spilled a fairly simple Djuricic effort into the path of Maksimovic. The Serbian defender then tapped in to make it 2-0.

However, Fiorentina equalised within the next four minutes. Lucas Beltran made it 2-1, a minute after, nodding in the Robin Gosens cross from six yards.

Two minutes after, Nicolò Fagioli squirmed between two to curl wide, incredibly completing the comeback within three minutes in Athens.

The Florence side push for the lead but Kean’s effort went over the bar, while Rolando Mandragora’s attempt hit his teammate.

Fiorentina thought they had turned it around completely on 44 minutes when a cleared corner was swept back by Mandragora. Pietro Comuzzo’s header then came off the upright, before Matias Moreno reacted quickest to tap in the rebound. However, it was disallowed by VAR for Moreno’s offside.

After the restart, Panathinaikos restored their advantage as Djuricic rolled across from the left for Tetê to swing the into the near bottom corner.

Dragowski did well to maintain the scoreline, as he smothered Ranieri’s header from a corner. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Terracciano also palmed a dangerous Azzedine Ounahi solo effort over the bar.

The hosts carries the advantage into the second leg, as they travel to Florence for a spot in the quarterfinals.