A EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE clash was stopped mid-match due to FLARES.
Club Brugge are taking on Italian outfit Fiorentina to determine who reaches the final tonight.
The Serie A side took a 3-2 lead to the home of their Belgian rivals.
Fiorentina twice led last week in Florence thanks to Riccardo Sottil and Andrea Belotti but twice Club Brugge pegged them back.
Hans Vanaken converted a penalty before top scorer Igor Thiago got on the scoresheet.
But Fiorentina grabbed a third in additional time through M’Bala Nzola to take an advantage to Brugge.
READ MORE ON FOOTBALL
But that lead was short-lived as Maxim de Cuyper fired Brugge ahead on the 20 minute mark of the second leg.
The clash remained on a knife edge as it reached half time.
But nerves were jangling even more seconds after the restart when the ref was forced to halt the action.
Hordes of fireworks and flares had been lit by home supporters during the break.
Most read in Football
That caused a huge cloud of smoke to fill the Jan Breydel Stadium.
The ref deemed the conditions unplayable just after kicking off the second half, leading to him blowing his whistle was a short break.
He picked up the ball and then stopped the action as he waited for the smoke to clear.
BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERS
And fortunately it only took around three minutes for that to happen and the game to resume.
But there was late heartbreak in store for the hosts when Fiorentina were awarded a penalty with five minutes to go.
And Lucas Beltran made no mistake in converting it to put the visitors 4-3 up on aggregrate.
That was enough to secure their place in the final for the second season running, and the club’s sixth European one, as they look to right the wrongs from last season’s loss to West Ham.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
