Mandragora sends warning to Crystal Palace: ‘We believe in the miracle’

Mandragora sends warning to Crystal Palace: ‘We believe in the miracle’

Rolando Mandragora is aware that Fiorentina need a ‘perfect game’ to overturn their 3-0 deficit against Crystal Palace in the second leg of their Conference League quarter-final tie, but warns the South Londoners that ‘we believe in the miracle’.

The Viola will host Palace at the Stadio Franchi at 20.00 BST on Thursday evening, requiring a statement performance to overturn the 3-0 defeat they suffered at Selhurst Park last week.

Palace are the bookies’ outright favourites to go on and win this season’s Conference League title, but Fiorentina are two-time finalists themselves and are hoping to make amends for what has been a largely disappointing season across the board.

Mandragora previews Fiorentina vs. Crystal Palace second leg: ‘Difficult, but we believe in it’

“We’ve managed to keep ourselves alive and are still in the running. It will take a big feat but we believe in the miracle,” Mandragora warned during his pre-match press conference on Wednesday (via TMW).

“We’ve often suffered comebacks in the second leg in the past few years. Now could be the right time to do it ourselves. Of course, we’ll need the perfect game and that Palace will concede against us. It will be difficult, but we believe in it.”

Mandragora hopes that the support from the home fans at the Stadio Franchi will spur the players on on the night.

LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 09: David De Gea of ACF Fiorentina looks on as ticker tape is seen around him during the UEFA Conference League 2025/26 Quarter-Final Leg One match between Crystal Palace FC and ACF Fiorentina at Selhurst Park on April 09, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

“We can do something special with the support of our fans. We didn’t want to disappoint them with a result like that in the first leg. But for most of the game, the performance was there, there were chances. We’ll try to play our game at home, even if they are strong and complete.”

Fiorentina are five games unbeaten over in Serie A and are finally starting to look safe from relegation after moving eight points clear of the drop zone after their 1-0 win over Lazio on Monday night.

“It’s been a one-off year and the celebration the other night was a sort of liberation, even if it’s not over yet,” said Mandragora.

“We didn’t expect to have a season like this. We started with completely different goals and we needed a lot of humility to change them. It wasn’t obvious we’d be in this situation.”

LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 09: Giovanni Fabbian of ACF Fiorentina is challenged by Daichi Kamada of Crystal Palace during the UEFA Conference League 2025/26 Quarter-Final Leg One match between Crystal Palace FC and ACF Fiorentina at Selhurst Park on April 09, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)

Despite the 3-0 defeat at Selhurst Park last week, Mandragora insists that he didn’t feel too much of a difference in quality between the Premier League and the Serie A outfit.

“I honestly don’t (notice a difference in quality). Of course, the Premier League is elite, as is Serie A with its pros and cons. Every game has its own story and the first leg told us that they were better than us. We’ll see if we’re better than them in the second.”