Before the semifinal battles in the Conference League began, the standings contained two different rivalries. While in the duel between Djurgården and Chelsea the result was clear well in advance even for fans from the Swedish capital, in the Spanish-Italian pairing the chances of the rivals were assessed as roughly equal. The opening encounter between Betis and Fiorentina in Seville could tilt the scales significantly in favour of the representative of the Primera Division. Already in the sixth minute the Spanish team took the lead and in the first half did not let the opponent not once hit the goalposts. In the middle of the second half Betis increased the lead to two goals, but nine minutes after his goal allowed defender Luca Ranieri to score - 2:1. The Spanish victory allows them to choose tactics for the return leg with more variation. Bookmakers have identified the hosts as favourites for the upcoming meeting, offering odds of 2.31 on their victory.

Betis in the current year looks very good both in the European Cup and in the Spanish arena. The Sevillians are in sixth place in the Primera, one point behind Villarreal, who are in the Champions League zone. After the victory over Fiorentina in the first meeting Betis travelled to Catalonia, where they beat Espanyol. And the victory was a willful one - as early as the 85th minute the club was losing 0:1. Once again Betis players showed character, once again the goal was scored by Antoni. The triumph in the described meeting was the fourth consecutive triumph for the Sevillians and the third in the championship.

Fiorentina is not so successful on the national scene. Three rounds before the end of the season in Serie A, the Florentine team is four points behind the European Cup zone, which makes their chances of European places quite elusive. Last weekend's match was lost in Rome, as they failed to respond to Roma's only goal of the game in stoppage time. The past two seasons Fiorentina have finished in the Conference League final, but they have not faced such experienced and well-coordinated opponents in the semi-final stages. Forced to attack, the Florentine team will go forward, but Betis will get the desired outcome in a comfortable second-half game.