Sevilla, who have been resurgent under recently-appointed head coach Jose Luis Mendilibar, stunned Manchester United to stay on course to lift the Europa League trophy for a record-breaking seventh time.
Every time they’ve reached the quarter-finals, Sevilla have gone on to win the coveted crown. Yet the La Liga strugglers are seen as the underdogs out of the four remaining teams, priced as a generous 4-1 shot the bookmakers to triumph in June.
Sevilla kicked off their European campaign in the Champions League, but dropped down to the Europa League after finishing third in their group behind English giants Manchester City and German outfit Borussia Dortmund.
Unfancied Sevilla bounced back with a pair of late goals from Youssef En-Nesyri to finish 2-2 in the first leg against mighty Manchester United, who beat Barcelona in the knockout round play-offs. Sevilla breezed past the Red Devils in the return leg, to clinch the tie 5-2 on aggregate and book a deserved semi-final spot.
Mendilibar, only at the helm since March, has instantly simplified tactics by instilling the importance of moving forward quickly and placing the importance of crosses from the wings into the penalty box.
Standing between Sevilla and another Europa League final appearance are Italian outfit Juventus, who were shocked by Villarreal in the 2021/22 Champions League last 16 contest.
Wily head coach Massimiliano Allegri, who has a plethora of goalscoring talents such as World Cup-winner Angel Di Maria and Federico Chiesa, always makes not conceding first his priority despite often fielding just three defenders.
If Sevilla can overcome Juventus they face a final showdown against either AS Roma or Bayer Leverkusen inside Budapest’s Puskas Arena on 31 May.
Atletico Madrid propped up Group B in the Champions League, with Leverkusen only earning their Europa League berth because of their superior head-to-head record against the La Liga club. Club Brugge finished runner-up to Porto.
Legendary ex-Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso’s arrival in the German Bundesliga in October has seen Leverkusen become highly creative and clinical in front of goal. They last lifted the UEFA Cup in 1988, and their fans believe that the Basque-born head coach has developed something special at the club.
Serial winner Jose Mourinho, who captured last year’s Europa Conference League with Roma, will be seeking back-to-back trophies. He orchestrated a last 16 success over Real Sociedad, and this term has stuck to his predictable yet reliable 3-4-2-1 system.
Roma are the only team left in the Europa League that kicked off the season in the competition. Yet the bookmakers have placed Leverkusen (11/4) slightly ahead of the Italian club (4/1) to be crowned champions.
PayPal betting sites like bet365 have installed star-studded Juventus as favourites (2/1) to succeed German outfit Eintracht Frankfurt as Europa League winners, because they face little-fancied Sevilla next.
Although it’s time for those four sides to continue dreaming about European glory, and a place in next year’s highly-lucrative Champions League, Sevilla have a realistic shot of winning again.
They boast previous experience and the all important know-how about lifting the Europa League. Under Mendilibar — only in charge until the end of the season — Sevilla won’t be fazed by any opponent, however many superstars they have to go head-and-head with.
