Juventus vs Sevilla

Juventus and Sevilla are set to trade tackles in the first leg of their mouth-watering Europa League semi-final tie at the Allianz Stadium.

After a 2-1 aggregate victory over Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League quarter-finals helped Juventus reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2013/14, ‘I Bianconeri’ aim to go one better and win the competition for the first time since 1992/93. Massimiliano Allegri’s men have rediscovered form after a five-match winless run in all competitions (D2, L3), winning their last two Serie A games by an aggregate score of 4-1. The record-time Europa League champions boast a flawless home record in the Europa League, having gone unbeaten in all 12 of their previous outings in Turin (W5, D7) while keeping six clean sheets in the process. Topically, Juventus have won back-to-back Europa League home matches by an identical 1-0 scoreline after a 1-1 draw with Nantes in the knockout playoff round.

On the other hand, visiting Sevilla proved their continental credentials by dispatching Premier League heavyweights Manchester United 5-2 on aggregate in the quarter-finals. Despite experiencing an underwhelming La Liga campaign by their standards, ‘Los Rojiblancos’ can draw confidence from a 100% win ratio in their five previous Europa League semi-final appearances. Moreover, the Spaniards have won their last six meetings with Serie A clubs in the Europa League, with each match-up coming in the knockout stages. If that’s not encouraging enough, since Jose Luis Mendilibar’s appointment at the start of April, the Andalusian giants have only lost one of their nine outings in all competitions (W6, D2). They most recently came from a 2-1 halftime deficit to beat Espanyol 3-2 at home last weekend.