Europa League PREVIEW | Juventus v Sevilla

After consolidating a second-place finish in the Serie A in their last match, Juventus will aim to do justice to their season by progressing further into the Europa League and the battle for a place in the final starts today against Sevilla in the first leg of the semi-finals at the Allianz Stadium.

Juventus could efficiently capitalise on Lazio’s woes against Milan in the previous matchday by winning a comfortable victory over top-four contenders Atalanta. Samuel Iling-Junior and Dusan Vlahovic were on the scoresheet as the Bianconeri continued to show their competitors their true form, which has been further catapulted after the reinstatement of the 15 points taken away initially by the FIGC.

Despite experiencing an inconsistent season, Massimiliano Allegri’s men will hope to grab some silverware at the end of it as their hopes of clinching the Coppa Italia were put to an end by Inter across the two-legged semi-finals. They will hope not to repeat the results from their previously played semi-final in today’s upcoming one.

Meanwhile, Sevilla approach this match in an inspiring form, having maintained an unbeaten run in their last nine clashes across all competitions. 

The Andalucians showed a resilient fighting spirit across the two legs in the Europa League quarter-finals against Manchester United. Apart from the fashion in which they secured their berth in the semi-finals, Sevilla’s recent dominating form have also taken them out of potential relegation threats which they have almost endured most of the season.

Results from their last five matches across all competitions

Juventus:

W W D L L

Sevilla:

W W W W W

Team News

Massimiliano Allegri will have the likes of Paul Pogba and Federico Chiesa available for this match. Right-back Mattia De Sciglio underwent surgery recently and will remain sidelined. 

Gleison Bremer will also be absent while Leandro Paredes, Arkadiusz Milik and Angel Di Maria are in contention to start.

As for Sevilla, Tanguy Nianzou and Suso will remain out of this fixture due to injuries.

Lucas Ocampos, Fernando and Erik Lamela were included in the squad list but they aren’t expected to be fully fit.

Yassine Bounou is expected to keep his place in between the sticks.

Predicted XIs

Juventus (3-5-1-1): Szczesny; Danilo, Bonucci, Sandro; Cuadrado, Fagioli, Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostic; Di Maria; Vlahovic

Sevilla (4-2-3-1): Bounou; Navas, Bade, Gudelj, Acuna; Gueye, Rakitic; Ocampos, Torres, Gil; En-Nesyri

Trambak Bhattacherjee | GIFN