Sevilla vs Juventus Preview

Juventus and Sevilla will battle for a place in the UEFA Europa League final when they meet at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán this Thursday in the second leg of their semi-final tie.

Both sides played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg at the Allianz Stadium with a 97th-minute goal from Federico Gatti cancelling out Youssef En Nesyri’s first-half opener for Sevilla.

So the hosts come into this tie as the favourites given that they play at their famed Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán where they have enjoyed remarkable success, especially in Europe.

José Luis Mendilibar’s side beat Manchester United 3-0 on this ground in the last round after a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford so they will fancy their chances of repeating that trick after a first-leg draw.

The hosts have the tools to do so and will be confident after recording a 3-0 win over Real Valladolid which pushed them into the top half of La Liga. Moreover, they can bank on an almost perfect home record in all UEL football since 2018/19 (W15, D2), which includes six clean sheets in the post-group stage phase (W5 D1).

Meanwhile, Juventus followed up that first-leg draw with a 2-0 win over Cremonese at the weekend. They won despite resting key players like Filip Kostić, Manuel Locatelli and goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny.

That result means that they need just two points in their remaining three games to clinch a place in the next UEFA Champions League (UCL) group stage, which should afford them the space to throw everything they have at this tie.

Manager Max Allegri will hope his side can deliver the goods in Spain and turn a difficult season into a positive one with a place in the final. With their last three away games in the Europa League all ending positively (W2, D1), they will fancy their chances of becoming the second Italian team to reach a European final this season, following Inter Milan’s progress to the Champions League final.