Club Brugge 1-1 Fiorentina (3-4 agg): Late Beltran penalty fires La Viola into second consecutive Europa Conference League Final

Lucas Beltran's late penalty ensured Fiorentina's progression to the UEFA Conference League final for the second consecutive year, as they secured a 1-1 draw against Club Brugge, winning the semi-final tie 4-3 on aggregate.

The initial exchanges indicated that the intense nature of the first leg would be replicated, with Blauw-Zwart pushing forward and every moment of potential promise met with an anticipatory roar from the home crowd at the Jan Breydel Stadion.

While patience was also required, Club Brugge managed to score with their first shot in the 20th minute. Maxim De Cuyper, who had replaced the injured Bjorn Meiher in the starting lineup, drifted into the box and made the slightest of touches on Hans Vanaken's cross, scoring his second goal in his last three starts and leveling the tie.

Fiorentina almost immediately conjured a response, but Simon Mignolet smothered Nicolas Gonzalez's shot, and Andrea Belotti's follow-up attempt trickled wide.

As Fiorentina pushed for the goal that would restore their aggregate lead, Igor Thiago did well to get behind Nikola Milenkovic and selflessly squared the ball for Michal Skoras. However, the full-back was caught off guard, allowing Dodo to recover and clear the danger.

Christian Kouamé then struck the crossbar with a powerful shot, leaving the winger in disbelief as Kyriani Sabbe headed the ball away from the goal line.

The match had a relentless intensity, with so much at stake. While signs started to emerge that the hosts were struggling to keep up, Joel Ordonez remained focused and made a brilliant intervention to stop Cristiano Biraghi's cross from reaching Belotti.

Fiorentina survived further scares, with Biraghi's free-kick and M'Bala Nzola's header both hitting the woodwork.

After Odoi compounded the hosts' frustrations by receiving a second yellow card from the bench, Vanaken's deflected shot forced Pietro Terracciano to make a crucial save to secure Fiorentina's club-record unbeaten streak in Europe to 13 games and secure their spot in Athens' final.

Additionally, they shattered Brugge's hopes in their first European semi-final in 32 years, as the defeat in the first leg - the only loss for the Belgian team in their last 11 matches across all competitions - ended up being very costly.