Europa League football returns to Turin this Thursday as Juventus welcome the competition’s record holders Sevilla in the first leg of their semifinals of the UEL.
The Old Lady qualified for this semis thanks to a 2-1 aggregate win over Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon in the previous round. They welcome the Spanish side Sevilla on the back of a massive 2-0 win over Atalanta that kept them firmly planted inside Serie A’s top four.
That win ended their poor away form over the previous month and would have given them the confidence boost they needed ahead of this tie.
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Meanwhile, after that win at the weekend, manager Max Allegri declared that his players are “mentally good” ahead of this visit from a Sevilla side they last met in the 2016/17 UCL group stage.
Having not tasted defeat in this edition of the Europa League (W4, D2) despite a series of cagey affairs that averaged less than two goals per game., they will fancy their chances of winning here. Furthermore, the fact that they have never lost a UEL home fixture (W7, D7) will also boost their morale.
Meanwhile, Sevilla travel to the Allianz Stadium in good spirits after returning to winning ways in their last outing.
The Andalusian club suffered their first defeat under new manager José Luis Mendilibar two weeks ago when Girona beat them 2-0 at home. But they bounced back in style at the weekend to all but seal their La Liga status with a 3-2 win over Espanyol 3-2.
So Mendilibar will be hoping his side can produce another magical performance this Thursday at Turin. The Spanish tactician made his UEL managerial debut in Sevilla’s 5-2 aggregate quarter-final win over Manchester United. He will look to secure another win in Sevilla’s 50th match in the UEL’s knockout phase.
The 622-year-old claims that his next opponent Juventus are “stronger” and “more challenging” than the Red Devils, but he’ll fancy his team’s chances of winning after five wins from their last six competitive outings (L1).
However, Sevilla’s away form might worry even the most optimistic fans. The Andalusians haven’t won any of their last six knockout round-away legs (in two-leg ties) played at an opposition venue (D2, L4).
Meanwhile, all but two of Sevilla’s ten UEL matches since the start of 2021/22 saw only the winning team score. So we will likely see a low-scoring affair of under 2.5 goals.
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