De Gea: ‘Fiorentina must be calm, because Betis fans go completely crazy’

“It is very important that we start strong, the opening minutes are fundamental, especially here when the fans will go completely crazy as soon as the whistle goes,” De Gea told Sky Sport Italia.

“We need to be calm, try to control the tempo of the game, show character, hopefully score more goals than them and bring home a good result.”

The decider will be at the Stadio Artemio Franchi on Thursday May 8.

De Gea did not give Isco any ideas

Isco suggested in the build-up that he would call the goalkeeper to ask about Fiorentina, so did the Betis veteran get in touch with De Gea?

“We will talk after the game. It’s true, I have many good friends in the Betis squad, I played with many of them, but I wear the Fiorentina jersey now and we hope it will be a great night for us.”

The other Conference League semi-final this evening is between Chelsea and Djurgarden, so one of these four teams will lift the trophy.

Unfortunately, that kind of home advantage will not be available for Fiorentina in the second leg, because the Stadio Artemio Franchi is undergoing extensive reconstruction work and the capacity is severely limited.