Europa League – Who are the favourites, which team would be crowned champions?
In a week where everyone’s eyes were on the action of UEFA Champions League, where all the European big guns were battling for a big-eared trophy, Europa League quarter-finals would certainly catch some attention.
The first leg of the quarter-finals is set to take place on Thursday evening and eight teams will battle out for glory. Three Portuguese sides, two Eredivisie outfits and one each from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Russia-c2991 prepare for the last-8 round, with the hope
for a Dublin’s Aviva Stadium final berth.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Dynamo-Kyiv-c39105 will host SC Braga at
Stadion Dynamo.
Let’s have a look at the eight teams and analyse their chances of reaching the final at Dublin.
FC Spartak Moscow
The Russian outfit progressed through to the last-8 round by whitewashing http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/AFC-Ajax-c38228 Amsterdam with 4-0. They displayed an extravagant feat in the two-legged encounter and have given a ray of hope to the fans that they have a good chance to achieve superior
performances in their remaining European campaign. However, it seems very unlikely that they will go all the way to play in Ireland, as they have been paired with the likes of FC Porto in the quarter-final.
FC Dynamo Kyiv
The Ukrainian giants made their way to the last-8 Europa League teams by eliminating Manchester City 2-1 aggregate. After their classy performance in the round-16, they will be keen to go further in the Europe’s secondary club competition. It seems that
the Ukrainian outfit have a good chance of making it through to the semi-finals. The White-Blues have been paired with SC Braga in the last-8 round. However, the remaining teams will likely to be too strong for the Ukrainian outfit.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/SC-Braga-c40460
The Archbishops stunned everyone with their performance in this season’s Europa League. They made their way by eliminating English Premier League power-house, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 FC. After their stunning performance against Liverpool, expectations are very high in
Braga from their beloved side. However, if they make it to the semi-finals, they have to deal with either http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/PSV-c40281 or Benfica.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/SL-Benfica-c40542
The Eagles picked a spot to play in the quarter-finals by defeating Ligue 1 giants, Paris Saint-Germain, 3-2 aggregate. They have remained one of the most exciting teams in Europe for the last couple of years. The Eagles’ confidence will be sky-high coming
into this clash, but PSV will prove to be a tough contender for them. If they manage to beat the Eredivisie power-house, they will surely make it to play in Ireland.
PSV Eindhoven
The Boeren have been in supreme form in their Europa League campaign so far this season. They have not lost a single match in the Europe’s secondary club competition since their 1-0 loss from the hands of Novosibirsk in the play-offs round earlier this season.
However, they now have to cope with an impressive Portuguese Liga outfit, who also have an exceptional record in Europe.
FC Twente Enschede
The Tukkers impressed with their good performances in the UEFA Champions League against Tottenham Hotspur and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Inter-c39567 Milan and their good form remained intact in the Europa league as well. The Tukkers were considered the underdogs against the Russian outfits,
Rubin Kazan and Zenit Saint Petersburg. However, they proved that they are the Eredivisie champions and should not be taken lightly. They have been paired with the favourite team of the competition, Villarreal CF, in the quarter-finals and once again they
are said to be the second best. Should they eliminate the Spanish outfit in the last-8 round, the Tukkers would become the clear favourites to emerge victorious in the competition.
FC Porto
The Dragons impressed with their supreme performance on the field when they eliminated http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sevilla-FC-c40484 and CSKA Moscow in the knock-out rounds. They have already claimed the Portuguese Liga title, as they are dominating the league table by a mammoth 16 points
lead over second placed Benfica, with only five matches left to play in the season. Thus, they can put all their focus and efforts on the Europa League.
Villarreal FC
The Yellow Submarines have been considered as the favourites to win the tournament ever since they started their Europa League campaign. They were expected to beat SSC http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Napoli-c40003 and Bayer Leverkusen and they lived up to the fans belief. They will not have an
easy path through to the final, but the Yellow Submarines have the capability to go all the way to play at Dublin in front of a 50,000 crowd.
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