Fiorentina Vs Jagiellonia Białystok: Second Leg Shifts Focus to Crowd and Security
fiorentina vs jagiellonia białystok moves from scoreline drama to logistics and crowd management as the Viola prepare to close out a 3-0 aggregate advantage. The match matters now because the tie, effectively settled on the pitch in Poland, has turned attention toward expected attendance, policing and the starting lineups that will finish the job.
Fiorentina Vs Jagiellonia Białystok: Lineups and team context
The hosts will field a starting XI that includes Lezzerini in goal, a back four of Fortini, Comuzzo, Pongracic and Gosens, and a midfield featuring Ndour, Mandragora and Fabbian. The attacking trio listed are Dodô, Piccoli and Fazzini. Jagiellonia arrive with Abramowicz in goal, Wojtuszek, Vital, Pelmard and Wdowik across the defence, Romanczuk and Mazurek in midfield, and an attacking line of Pozo, Imaz, Jozwiak and Pululu.
Fiorentina's coach has the comfort of a 3-0 advantage from the first leg in Poland, a margin that has reframed Thursday's fixture on 26 February 2026 as one of preservation as much as progression. The Serie A side have also shown signs of recovery domestically: a 2-1 win away at Como on Valentine’s Day is one of several results that leave them with only three defeats in eleven matches in 2026, a run that helps explain the choice to balance experience and rotation for this fixture.
Stadio Artemio Franchi attendance, policing and prefecture measures
Ticket office figures point to roughly 8, 000 spectators expected at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, a far cry from the near sell-out seen in the derby earlier in the week. Organizers note the ten thousand mark is unlikely to be reached. The combination of a decisive first-leg scoreline and an inconvenient kickoff for many working supporters has been cited as a primary factor in the reduced turnout.
Security planning has been stepped up: the prefecture has issued bans that shape travel and stadium access, and police have established a heightened alert posture. Some 1, 250 supporters are travelling from Poland, and authorities have identified an estimated fringe of about 300 ultras among those contingents who are being treated as a potential public-order risk. Polish police are collaborating with local forces on the operational plan for the evening.
Those official actions — bans, coordinated policing and targeted scrutiny of a subset of visiting fans — are producing visible effects: a smaller crowd, restricted movements for some away supporters and a match day environment orchestrated as much around safety as sport. The tighter security footprint is a direct consequence of the travel numbers and the classification of a segment of the away support as high risk.
How the first-leg outcome alters match priorities
The 3-0 result from the opening game has produced clear cause-and-effect dynamics. That margin reduces the need for aggressive tactical gambits from the home side and increases the likelihood of measured rotation, while giving Jagiellonia a narrower set of realistic options to overturn the deficit. The coaching staff's selection decisions now balance the imperative to advance in the competition with player management for upcoming domestic commitments.
What makes this notable is that the tie’s sporting drama has been largely decided already, so the remaining narrative is dominated by practical considerations — who starts, how the crowd behaves, and whether security measures will hold. Those factors will shape both the atmosphere inside the Franchi and what the fixture ultimately means for Fiorentina's European campaign.
Match officials and club administrators will oversee a fixture whose immediate outcome is likely settled but whose operational challenges remain significant: finishing the job on the pitch, managing a modest crowd of roughly 8, 000 and ensuring safe passages for the 1, 250 visiting supporters under a police plan that flags about 300 ultras as a particular concern.
