Associated Press
Portugal and Spain have provided at least one team in nine of the past 11 finals of the Uefa Cup or Europa League and the two countries dominate the quarter-final line-up for this year’s competition.
The Portuguese pair Benfica and Porto and the Spain sides Valencia and Sevilla are battling for supremacy in Europe’s second-tier competition with Juventus, the biggest name in the last eight and seeking to reach a final that will be played in their home stadium in Turin.
The first legs take place tonight, with Juventus – the leaders by 11 points in the Italian league – visiting Lyon. Porto host Sevilla in the other standout quarter-final, while Basel face Valencia and AZ Alkmaar meet Benfica.
Here is a look at the four games:
Lyon v Juventus
Eliminating Juventus, the big tournament favourites, will be an uphill battle for a depleted and exhausted Lyon.
For their 52nd game this season, the French side will be without the defenders Milan Bisevac, Samuel Umtiti, Miguel Lopes and Mouhamadou Dabo, and the midfielders Gueida Fofana, Clement Grenier and Yoann Gourcuff.
While Lyon are fifth in France's Ligue 1, Juventus are the runaway leaders in Serie A despite a 2-0 loss to Napoli at the weekend.
The Juventus striker Carlos Tevez, the top scorer in the Italian league with 18 goals, was suspended for the Napoli match but should return for Lyon as the Argentina international seeks a first goal in European competition since April 2009.
Basel v Valencia
The sounds of Basel v Valencia will echo around an empty 38,000-capacity St Jakob Park Stadium.
Uefa ordered the first leg to be played without fans as punishment after Basel supporters temporarily stopped play during the 2-1 win at Salzburg two weeks ago.
After Swiss fans threw fireworks on the pitch in the first half, the referee took both teams to the locker rooms.
Basel are making their second successive run at the Europa League title, after being eliminated in the semi-finals by eventual winners Chelsea one year ago.
While the league-leading Swiss champions can probably look forward to more Uefa Champions League football next season, Valencia might need to win this trophy to return to European competition.
Valencia are in a group of teams chasing eighth place in the Spanish league, which could earn the last Europa League qualifying spot.
Basel are without the veteran striker Marco Streller, while Valencia’s main injury absence is the Brazil goalkeeper Diego Alves.
Porto v Sevilla
For a picture of Porto’s woes, look no further than Ricardo Quaresma.
The former Al Ahli winger missed a penalty in Porto’s 2-1 defeat at Nacional last weekend, contributing to the defending champions’ second loss in three games and leaving them 15 points off the lead.
As Porto’s frustration boiled over amid another miserable performance, Quaresma, who had been booked for diving, lost his head and flung himself at an opponent in an on-field fracas that could earn him a lengthy suspension.
Porto’s downward slide, which brought the mid-season departure of coach Paulo Fonseca and his replacement with the interim coach Luis Castro, contrasts with Sevilla’s rise.
The southern Spanish club defeated Real Madrid last week as part of a six-game winning streak.
Porto and Sevilla are both two-time winners of Europe’s second-tier competition, including when it was known as the Uefa Cup.
AZ Alkmaar v Benfica
For Dick Advocaat, AZ Alkmaar’s quarter-final against Benfica is the beginning of the end of his tenure at the Dutch club.
The vastly experienced coach, who replaced Gertjan Verbeek in October, announced at the weekend that he will be leaving the club at the end of this season, when his contract expires. Out of contention in the Dutch league and knocked out of the domestic cup, the Europa League is his last chance to cap his brief stay in Alkmaar with a trophy.
Last year’s losing finalists, Benfica want to make up for the disappointment of finishing last season empty-handed after letting a potential league, cup and Europa League treble slip from their grasp.
Beaten by Chelsea in the 2013 Europa League final, they also lost the Portuguese Cup final and surrendered their Portuguese league lead two weeks before the end of the season.
They are also into the semi-finals of the Portuguese Cup, and have a seven-point lead at the top of the league with five rounds to play.
* Associated Press
TV times, s14
