09/05 - 20:00
09/05 - 20:00
09/05 - 20:00
The UEFA Europa Conference League is earning a burgeoning reputation in its third season of its existence and we have had this season’s quarter-final and semi-final draw take place today.
Last season’s runners up Fiorentina came through a thriller of a tie against Maccabi Haifa and they will be joined by pre-tournament favourites Aston Villa in the last eight after they thrashed Ajax by four goals to nil. 2023 UEFA Europa League winning coach Jose Luis Mendilibar inspired a remarkable Olympiakos comeback as they knocked out Robbie Keane’s Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the Round of 16.
Paulo Fonseca’s Lille cruised into the quarter-finals and Turkish giants Fenerbahce also eased into the last eight. Olympiakos’ compatriots, PAOK, also produced a comeback as they knocked out Dinamo Zagreb, whilst Viktoria Plzen defeated Servette on penalties after 210 goalless minutes of that tie. Ronny Deila’s Club Brugge overturned a first-leg deficit to comfortably defeat Molde at the Janbreydelstadion.
Aston Villa (ENG)
Club Brugge (BEL)
Fenerbahce (TUR)
Fiorentina (ITA)
Lille (FRA)
Olympiakos (GRE)
PAOK Salonika (GRE)
Viktoria Plzen (CZE)
Quarter-finals:
CLUB BRUGGE vs PAOK SALONIKA
OLYMPIAKOS vs FENERBAHCE
ASTON VILLA vs LILLE
VIKTORIA PLZEN vs FIORENTINA
Semi-finals:
ASTON VILLA / LILLE vs OLYMPIAKOS / FENERBAHCE
VIKTORIA PLZEN / FIORENTINA vs CLUB BRUGGE / PAOK SALONIKA
Four-time UEFA Europa League winner Unai Emery will take his Aston Villa team to the north of France to face a strong and difficult to play or score against Lille side in the quarters and the winners of that tie will win the winner of Greek giants Olympiakos and Turkish giants Ferencvaros in a last eight tie that has the potential to be extremely fun for the neutral.
Czech outfit Viktoria Plzen are probably the weakest team left in the competition but they do face a fairly unconvincing Fiorentina side in the quarters. I Viola will be favourites to head into the semi-finals where they will face a topsy turvy and inconsistent Club Brugge side or Greek Super League leaders PAOK in the final four.
