Twice beaten in the final of a competition that was only inaugurated three seasons ago, Fiorentina have a love-hate affair with the Conference League, so they are hoping for a happier ending next month.

The Tuscan club safely negotiated qualifying and the league phase of this term's competition before coming through a tough test in the last 16, where Panathinaikos won the first leg 3-2 in Greece and then put up a fight at Stadio Franchi before losing 3-1.

Goals from Albert Gudmundsson, Rolando Mandragora and star man Moise Kean ultimately saw the Viola edge through, as they continued an impressive European record on Italian soil this season.

Fiorentina may have won all four home games since the start of the league phase, but their away record reads just one win from four so far - that reflects a similar picture in Serie A.

Yet, they are still contenders for a top-four finish, having recovered from a dismal run of results that threatened to derail their domestic campaign.

Either side of last month's international break, Raffaele Palladino's men conquered one of their direct rivals: thumping old foes Juventus 3-0 before beating Atalanta BC two weeks later, with Kean scoring the only goal to defeat La Dea.

Last time out, the Italy striker put his team two up after 10 minutes at San Siro, but they eventually succumbed to AC Milan's latest fightback and had to settle for an entertaining 2-2 draw.

Celje have also been in good form since reaching the Conference League quarter-finals, most notably progressing to the Slovenian Cup semis by knocking out Maribor, before beating Bravo 2-1 in the PrvaLiga on Sunday.

As a result of Aljosa Matko's first-half brace, the Counts claimed maximum points again, leaving them fourth in the standings - albeit some 18 points adrift of top spot.

Set to lose their crown as domestic champions, the Styrian club can now concentrate on breaking new ground in Europe, after coming through one of the best ties of the last 16.

Leading 1-0 from the first leg, Celje then lost 5-4 to Lugano over the course of 120 minutes in Switzerland, before winning a penalty shootout to set up an historic first meeting with Italian opposition.

To date, Slovenian sides have hosted teams from their neighbouring nation in just seven previous UEFA club matches - winning one and losing five. So, Albert Riera's men will attempt to defy such precedent when Fiorentina come to town.

Celje possible starting lineup:

Silva; Nieto, Vuklisevic, Nemanic, Karnicnik; Zabukovnik, Kvesic; Delaurier-Chaubet, Seslar, Svetlin; Kucys

Fiorentina possible starting lineup:

De Gea; Comuzzo, Mari, Ranieri; Dodo, Ndour, Adli, Mandragora, Parisi; Gudmundsson, Kean