Fiorentina have a decimated squad for their Conference League play-off against Jagiellonia, as the conditions do not bode well.

The first leg kicks off on Thursday at the Stadion Miejski w Bialymstoku in Bialystok at 20.00 GMT (21.00 CET).

The decider will then be at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence next week.

Coach Paolo Vanoli’s mood was boosted by last week’s unexpected 2-1 Serie A victory away to Como, which lifted them out of the Serie A relegation zone.

However, it came at a cost, because they had to leave several top players behind for this trip to Poland due to fitness concerns.

David De Gea suffered a dislocated finger on his left hand during the win over Como, while January signing Manor Solomon has flu symptoms.

Moise Kean, Dodo, De Gea and Manor Solomon remain in Florence, along with injured Albert Gudmundsson and Tariq Lamptey.

Marco Brescianini, Oliver Christensen and Daniele Rugani are not on the UEFA squad list for this stage of the competition, so are ineligible.

It means Vanoli has had to call up eight players from the Fiorentina youth team, including two goalkeepers.

Luca Lezzerini should therefore play his first UEFA match for the Viola since the 3-2 Europa League defeat to PAOK in November 2016.

No risks will be taken with the most important players, considering the conditions in Poland, where it has been snowing heavily.

This is not a synthetic or even hybrid pitch, so it has suffered more than most from the freezing temperatures.

Fiorentina squad for Jagiellonia

Balbo, Bertolini, Bonanno, Braschi, Comuzzo, Deli, Fabbian, Fagioli, Fazzini, Fortini, Gosens, Harrison, Kouadio, Leonardelli, Lezzerini, Magalotti, Mandragora, Ndour, Parisi, Piccoli, Pongracic, Ranieri, Sadotti

Italy’s chances of receiving an extra spot in next season’s Champions League were dealt another blow after defeats for both Juventus and Inter in the play-off round first legs on Tuesday night. 

The Bianconeri were defeated 5-2 away against Galatasaray in Istanbul, while La Dea fell to a 2-0 loss in front of Borussia Dortmund’s Yellow Wall at the Westfalenstadion. 

These losses mean that Italy remains in fifth place in UEFA’s season association coefficient, which is used to determine which nations receive an additional spot in the following season’s tournament. Only the nations that finish the season in the top two will be afforded an extra Champions League spot. 

As things stand after the conclusion of Tuesday night’s fixtures, England remain top of the rankings with a score of 20.958. Portugal are in second on 16.600, Germany in third with 16.500, Spain in fourth with 15.781 and Italy in fifth with 15.500. 

Unfortunately for Italy, the gap between themselves and Spain has opened up slightly following the conclusion of Tuesday night’s games. 

How are the extra Champions League spots decided? 

The nations that finish the season in the top two on UEFA’s season association coefficient are awarded one additional spot each in the following season’s Champions League. 

So, how does the coefficient ranking work?

Teams competing in the three UEFA competitions (the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League) are awarded points based on their results in the European competitions. Nations are awarded two points for each of its teams’ wins, one for a draw and zero for a defeat. Those points are halved for qualifying matches. 

Bonus points are also awarded depending on each team’s finish in the league phase table. The team that finishes top of the Champions League pile gets an additional 12 points, the team in second gets 11.750, the team in third gets 11.500 and so on all the way down to the team in 36th. The winner of the Europa League league phase is awarded 6 points and 4 for the team at the top of the Conference League table. Points are awarded for places 1-24 in both the Europa League and Conference League. 

Additional bonus points are also awarded for each knockout stage that a team passes through. 

All of those points are added up and are then divided by the number of teams that the nation in question has competing in UEFA competitions. 

Italy’s collective points tally stands at 108.500, which comes to a coefficient score of 15.500 when divided by the number of Italian sides involved in European competition this season (seven). 

That score of 15.500 keeps Italy in fifth place in the season’s association coefficient ranking.