Juventus will face Sevilla in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League semi-final in Turin on Thursday. This is Sevilla’s seventh semi-final in the competition, having won the previous six en route to claiming the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League. The two clubs that exited this season’s UEFA Champions League at the end of the group stage will meet to battle for a place in the final, as Juventus attempt to become the first ever team to knock out Sevilla in a European semi-final. The winners of this tie will face either Roma or Bayer Leverkusen in the final in Budapest on May 31. Here’s what you need to know:
How to watch and opportunities
- Date: Thursday, May 11 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
- Place: Allianz Stadium — Turin, Italy
- Live stream: Paramount+
- Chances: Juventus -135; Tie: +235; Seville +390 (via Caesars Sportsbook)
How they got here
Juventus: This season saw Juventus enter the UEFA Champions League group stage for the 23rd time, but it proved to be short-lived as they failed to finish in the top two for the first time since 2013–14. Beaten twice by both Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica, they also traded wins with Maccabi Haifa but beat the Israeli champions into third on goal difference. Three-time UEFA Cup winners in 1977, 1990 and 1993, the Bianconeri’s fourth UEFA Europa League campaign has been extended to the last four for a second time thanks to those successes against Nantes, Freiburg and Sporting, Adrien Rabiot scoring the decisive goal made the last time out in Lisbon.
Seville: This season proved to be another struggle in the UEFA Champions League with then coach Julian Lopetegui failing to make it through the group stage and former boss Jorge Sampaoli returning to the club as they finished third again, a 3-0 home win against Copenhagen clinching that spot . after falling back in Seville on previous heavy defeats against Manchester City (0-4) and Dortmund (1-4). They drew in both Denmark (0-0) and Germany (1-1) before losing their meeting on matchday 6 3-1 in Manchester. Sevilla’s subsequent successes against PSV, Fenerbahce and Manchester United have earned them a record fifth appearance in the UEFA Europa League semi-finals, two more than any other club.
CBS Sports has a brand new daily football podcast, covering everything you need to know about the beautiful game. Make sure to follow House of Champions for coverage of the biggest matches, stories, transfer news with Fabrizio Romano and everything else happening in the world’s most popular sport.
Projected XI
Juventus: Szczesny; Gatti, Bremer, Danielo; Cuadrado, Fagioli, Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostic; Di Maria, Vlahovic.
Seville: Dmitrovic; Montiel, Bade, Rekik, Acuna; Fernando, Gudelj; Ocampos, Rakitic, Torres; En-Nesyri.
Prediction
Juventus must win this first leg when you consider how much more difficult it will be in Spain next week. Choose: Juventus 1, Seville 0.