Hearts' Europa Conference League rivals Fiorentina suffered a domestic hammering by Lazio ahead of Thursday's showdown in Florence.
The Serie A outfit ran out comfortable 3-0 winners at Tynecastle last week against the ten-man Jambos after Lewis Neilson's straight red card early in the second period. The Italian's grabbed the lead with less than four minutes on the clock and the Jambos failed to recover from the early setback in the capital.
Robbie Neilson and Co jet out to Florence later this week for their return Europa Conference League clash but face a Fiorentina side hurting after a 4-0 hammering by Lazio on their own patch. Matias Vecino, Mattia Zaccagni, Luis Alberto and Ciro Immobile all found the back of the net in the comfortable win for the away side.
READ MORE: Hearts manager Robbie Neilson gives his verdict on Craig Gordon's error in match
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The result moved Lazio up to third in the Serie A standings - just three points of Rangers' Champions League rivals Napoli while Fiorentina sit 13th. They have won just two of their nine league outings to date as the early season domestic struggles continue.
Speaking after the defeat, Vincenzo Italiano said: "We created a lot of chances, we could have scored three goals in the first 10 minutes. We aren’t clinical enough.
"Lazio showed they were better than us, they are a team we always struggle against.
"We have to accept the disappointment of our fans. Last season they were very enthusiastic, but to see them disappointed now is tough to take."
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