Dethroned Italian champions Napoli's hopes of playing European football next season are hanging by a thread after they played out a 2-2 draw at Fiorentina in Serie A on Friday.

Napoli took the lead in the eighth minute through defender Amir Rrahmani, who nodded home a corner by Matteo Politano.

Cristiano Biraghi levelled for Fiorentina in the 40th minute from a free-kick, before M'Bala Nzola put the hosts in front two minutes later when he fired a shot into the bottom corner of the net.

Napoli's Khvicha Kvaratskhelia responded with another stunning free-kick early in the second half to rescue a point for his team.

Eighth-placed Fiorentina, on 54 points and with a game in hand, are five points behind Lazio in seventh.

They can still earn a Europa League spot either by leapfrogging the Rome side or by winning the Europa Conference League final in which they face Greece's Olympiakos on May 29.

Ninth-placed Napoli, on 52 points, still have a slim chance of making the Europa Conference League playoffs.

Data Debrief

Fiorentina left-back Biraghi has now scored six goals from direct free-kicks since the start of 2021-22, which is behind only James Ward-Prowse (seven) - now of West Ham and formerly of Southampton - as the most across Europe's top five leagues in that period.

Kvaratskhelia also levelled via a direct free-kick, making this the first Serie A match in which both teams scored via that route since Fiorentina against Lazio in April 2018 (Jordan Veretout and Luis Alberto in that case).

Lucas Beltran was Fiorentina's hero as his late penalty in a 1-1 draw with Club Brugge ensured they progressed to the Europa Conference League final.

Beltran held his nerve from the spot to score an 85th-minute equaliser, earning a draw on the night but a 4-3 aggregate victory.

Fiorentina won the first leg 3-2, but Hans Vanaken's 20th-minute opener levelled the tie, on Wednesday.

Christian Kouame hit the woodwork twice for Fiorentina, but the pressure finally told when Brandon Mechele caught M'Bala Nzola with a high boot.

Beltran made no mistake, with Fiorentina holding firm to seal their place in the final in Athens on May 29.

Fiorentina lost last season's final to West Ham, and the Serie A club will now face either Olympiacos or Aston Villa.

Data Debrief: Back-to-back finals for Viola

Fiorentina have reached a European final for the sixth time in their history, and the second time in a row, though they have only won one of their previous five attempts.

They have only achieved that feat once before, which was back in 1961 and 1962.