jagiellonia białystok vs fiorentina: Viola arrive depleted amid snow as first leg looms
Fiorentina head to Bialystok badly lightened in numbers and facing wintry conditions for Thursday's Conference League play-off first leg, while hosts Jagiellonia Bialystok aim to use their strong home European form to grab an advantage. Kickoff is set for Thursday, February 19, 2026, at 3: 00 PM ET at the Stadion Miejski w Bialymstoku.
Fiorentina’s squad problems deepen — absences, ineligible players and youth call-ups
The Tuscan side will travel without several expected first-team options after a series of injuries, illness and squad-list restrictions left the travelling party depleted. David De Gea is sidelined following a dislocated finger sustained in recent action and will remain in Florence. January signing Manor Solomon is unwell with flu symptoms and is also staying home. Forward Moise Kean and full-back Dodo will not make the trip, while Albert Gudmundsson and Tariq Lamptey are out through injury.
Compounding the crisis, Marco Brescianini, Oliver Christensen and Daniele Rugani are not on the club's UEFA registration for this knockout stage and are therefore ineligible for the tie. The coaching staff has responded by calling up eight youth-team players for the trip, including two goalkeepers. That selection means Luca Lezzerini is likely to start in goal and would make his first UEFA appearance for the club since November 2016.
Given the absences, the manager has explicitly signalled he will not gamble with his most important names on a pitch made precarious by recent weather, rearranging plans around a significantly altered matchday squad.
Weather and surface add a wildcard as Jagiellonia seek to protect home advantage
Heavy snowfall in Bialystok has left the Stadion Miejski’s natural surface under strain, and preparations for the match have been coloured by concerns over footing and player safety. The coaching teams have warned that no unnecessary risks will be taken on a pitch that has suffered in freezing temperatures — a factor that could blunt the technical edge of the visitors and make set pieces and second balls especially important.
Jagiellonia arrive with momentum and a strong record on home soil in Europe this season. The Polish side have been hard to break down away and at home, suffering just one defeat in a dozen continental outings this campaign — a 2-1 loss to Rayo Vallecano — and sealed their spot with steady results in the group phase. Domestically they are enjoying their best spell in the club’s modern history, topping the Ekstraklasa after a 0-0 draw with Cracovia left them two points clear and with a game in hand.
This will be Jagiellonia’s first competitive meeting with opposition from Italy, and the home fans will hope that a familiar surface and winter conditions amplify the visitors’ selection headaches. The Polish side will aim to protect their slender European margins — they have rarely scored more than once in fixtures this season but have proven difficult to beat.
What to expect and the tie outlook
Expect a cautious opening period in Bialystok. Fiorentina, fragile in Serie A and sitting perilously close to the relegation zone, have kept only one clean sheet in their last 20 domestic matches this season, a sign of instability the hosts will try to exploit. With several senior attackers absent and younger players drafted in, the Viola may struggle to impose their usual control and could be vulnerable to a low, physical encounter.
Jagiellonia’s priority will be to get through the 90 minutes unscathed and take a manageable lead—or at least no deficit—back to Florence for the second leg at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. For Fiorentina, limiting damage on this trip and keeping the tie alive for the home return is the realistic objective given the numbers missing and the testing surface.
Thursday’s match is likely to be decided in details: set-plays, how each side copes with the snow-affected pitch, and whether the youngsters called into Fiorentina’s squad can steady a team short on senior reinforcements.
