Sevilla vs Juventus

Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan is the venue as Sevilla and Juventus go head-to-head in the return leg of their evenly-poised Europa League semi-final tie.

Federico Gatti’s 97th-minute equalizer held Sevilla to a morale-crushing 1-1 first-leg draw last weekend, yet Jose Luis Mendilibar’s men responded well, claiming a 3-0 La Liga win at Real Valladolid at the weekend. Since securing European qualification via league football, lifting a record-extending seventh Europa League title remains Sevilla’s only route into next season’s Champions League. History firmly backs ‘Los Rojiblancos’ for success here, considering they’ve never lost a two-legged tie in the Europa League knockout stages when playing at home in the second leg, progressing from all nine such contests. Indeed, the Spaniards have racked up an eye-catching 24 victories in their last 27 home outings in the Europa League proper (D2, L1).

In the meantime, visiting Juventus squeezed past Serie A minnows Cremonese 2-0 at home last weekend to solidify their top-four chase, but the Europa League crown is their only hope of avoiding another trophyless season. However, the odds are not kind to ‘I Bianconeri,’ who have only managed two victories in their last 17 away matches against Spanish teams in the knockout stages of a major European competition (D3, L12). It’s also worth noting they kept one clean sheet across those 17 fixtures, highlighting Massimiliano Allegri’s fear over leading Juventus into the first major European final since the 2016/17 Champions League title decider. Adding to his skepticism, the Turin heavyweights have only won once on their last six road trips in all competitions (D2, L3).