Last week’s Europa League draw at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon paired Sevilla with their Primera Liga rivals Valencia which means a place for a Spanish team in the final is guaranteed.
Juventus got a tough draw as Benfica could deny the Bianconeri from playing the title match at their own stadium in Turin on May 14.
Although Sevilla and Valencia can in no way be underestimated, the general feeling is that Juventus will have to work hard to advance and win the competition for the first time since 1993.
On their way to beating Borussia Dortmund 6-1 on aggregate in the UEFA Cup final of 21 years ago, Juventus, then coached by Giovanni Trapattoni, had also eliminated Benfica in the quarter-finals (4-2 on aggregate). Current Juve coach Antonio Conte featured in that successful team.
Before their UEFA Cup triumph of 1993, Juventus had won the same competition in 1977 (vs Athletic Bilbao) and 1990 (in an all-Italian final against Fiorentina).
If Juve win the Europa League next month, they will become the most successful club in this competition.
To date, Juventus are sharing the top place in the honours’ list with Inter and Liverpool with three wins each.
Against Benfica, Juve will have a slight advantage in that they will play the return leg at the Juventus Stadium on May 1.
Like the Bianconeri, Benfica did not participate in this season’s Europa League from the very beginning as they are Champions League drop-outs.
Benfica, whose La Luz Stadium will host the May 24 Champions League final, finished third behind Paris SG and Olympiakos in Group C of the more elite UEFA tournament for clubs.
However, before reaching the semi-finals, Benfica proved to be heads and shoulders above of PAOK, Tottenham and AZ Alkmaar, winning all their games in the knock-out stages of the tournament except for a 2-2 home draw with Spurs. However, Benfica had already beaten Tottenham 3-1 at White Hart Lane.
Benfica have been firing on all cylinders in the domestic league this season and look set to claim their 33rd national championship.
With three matches to go, they are seven points clear of Sporting Lisbon at the top of the standings.
In 2011, Benfica featured in their first European semi-final in 18 years.
However, they were ousted from the Europa League on the away goals rule by Braga.
For the record, that edition of the tournament was won by another Portuguese outfit – Andre Villas-Boas’s Porto.
Last year, Benfica were also ‘relegated’ to the Europa League after finishing third in their Champions League group. However, they bounced back and made it all the way to the final but lost 2-1 to Chelsea in Amsterdam.
That was Benfica’s ninth European final. The Eagles, as Benfica are popularly known, have also reached seven Champions Cup finals, winning two – in 1960/61 and 1961/62.
For Juventus, this will be their first semi-final appearance on the continent since they beat Spain’s Real Madrid 4-3 on aggregate to reach the 2002/03 Champions League final against Milan at Old Trafford.
With crowds dwindling and Italian football fast falling behind the other top nations on the continent, it is important for Juve to keep advancing in this competition as the last time a Serie A team reached the Europa League final was in 1988 when Parma beat Marseille 3-0 in Moscow.