The UEFA Europa League 2022-2023 will make its verdict soon!
Four clubs are still competing to win this prestigious trophy. According to the vast majority of observers, the semi-finals, which took place on May 11-18, promise to be extremely close and inconclusive. Who will have the chance and the great honor to qualify for the Grand Final scheduled for the end of this month and who will it be? The next European league champion?
Roma – Leverkusen
Very clever, he knows how to name in advance the winner of this double showdown! The Italians certainly have the advantage of experience, especially that of their Portuguese starting coach Jose Mourinho. He has achieved several successes on the European scene, including two C1s (in 2004 with FC Porto and in 2010 with Inter Milan) and two C3s (again in 2003 with the Portuguese club and in 2017 with Manchester United). In the previous round, the Romans easily beat Dutch team Feyenoord Rotterdam despite losing the first leg.
Less famous than their Italian counterparts, Leverkusen’s Germans are not to be underestimated. They had a flawless run, even if they came close to being eliminated during their dual encounter against Monaco. Leverkusen then won after a penalty shootout (5th all-around at the end of regulation time). The Germans certainly had less scares in the previous round when they easily knocked out the Belgians from Union Saint-Gilloise (1-1 in the first leg and a massive 4-1 victory in the second leg).
Juventus – Seville
The other semi-final match pits two big names in European football, Juventus and Sevilla, against each other. The Italians are regulars in the Champions League. They will take advantage of this experience to get ahead of their opponent. Underestimating Sevilla FC would be a huge mistake. The Spanish club is already the most successful in the history of this competition. The Andalusians have played 6 finals, winning them all (2006, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2020). They even gave themselves the luxury of winning three times in a row (2014, 2015 and 2016). To date, no one has ever done a better job!
Juventus is also included in the Europa League list. And so it was successful three times, several years ago (1977, 1990 and 1993). There is no doubt that this prestigious past will serve as further motivation for both clubs. In the previous round, Juventus had to fight hard to beat Sporting Lisbon, Portugal. After narrowly winning at home, the Piedmontese went on to achieve a strong home draw against Lisbon (1st all-around), securing them
Qualifying for the semi-finals. For their part, Sevilla will dislodge one of the competition’s favourites, the great Manchester United. After a wonderful and exciting draw at Old Trafford, the Andalusians easily won the second leg at their favorite stadium, Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan (3-0 win).
