It was always likely to be a dramatic night of Europa League action – the close contests from last week’s first legs ensured that.
Another Thursday in the tournament which has provided us with compelling viewing and continues to create Europa League highlights.
The pre-match questions included, could Manchester United end their Sevilla curse, could Roma overturn a narrow deficit to Feyenoord in their bid for back-to-back European trophies in what threatened to be a tense atmosphere (if only outside the stadium) in a repeat of last season’s Europa League Final, would fellow Italians Juventus join them in the last four as they try to save their season and could Belgian underdogs Saint-Gilloise, playing in Europe for the first time since 1964-65, knock out another European regular in the week the club is celebrating its 125th anniversary.
Well one of those questions was answered before a ball was even kicked as Juve saw a 15-point Serie A penalty, imposed for false accounting, put on hold pending a new hearing.
That means this competition was not last chance saloon for the Turin club as they immediately moved from seventh in Serie A to third, two points behind second-placed Lazio and three ahead of fourth-placed Roma. Milan and Inter.
They still wanted to progress in this tournament, of course, as they travelled to Portugal with a narrow advantage over Sporting Lisbon.
That lead was doubled as they made the perfect start with Adrien Rabiot’s ninth-minute header making it 2-0 on aggregate.
Yet as they showed when they beat Spurs in the Champions League group stages and knocked out their North London rivals Arsenal in the previous round, Sporting have genuine talent.
They were level on the night within nine minutes as Rabiot brought down Manuel Ugarte and Marcus Edwards converted the resulting penalty.
Despite chances, they could not add another as Juve held out to earn a semi-final tie with Sevilla who were far too strong for lacklustre Man Utd.
The club which made this tournament their own accepted gifts from as early as the eighth minute as Youssef En-Nesyri capitalised on a Harry Maguire error to open the scoring before Loic Bade met an Ivan Rakitic corner and looped a header – although it could have been off his shoulder – over David de Gea within 90 seconds of the restart.
Lethargic United, who led the first leg 2-0 until late on last week, never looked like getting back into the tie and the visiting goalkeeper capped a miserable return to his home country in the closing stages as he gifted the ball to En-Nesyri who cleverly added his second.
Sevilla were good value for their win which makes a mockery of their La Liga position and remain unbeaten since Jose Luis Mendilibar was appointed last month.
Elsewhere, the spirited run of Saint-Gilloise, who continued to outdo the SBOTOP Europa League betting odds, is finally over after Bayer Leverkusen hit four in Belgium.
In truth, the Germans never looked back once Moussa Diaby was inadvertently played through to rifle Bayer in front after just two minutes with his 14th of the season.
When Mitchel Bakker ghosted in unmarked seven minutes before the interval to double their advantage, it seemed all over.
Jeremie Frimpong capitalised on slack defensive play on the hour to make the tie safe and, although the hosts pulled one back almost straight away through a deflected effort from substitute Casper Terho, Adam Hlozek slotted home a rebound 11 minutes from time to confirm their place in the last four.
There they will face Roma after a ding-dong in the Italian capital.
After a goalless and tetchy first half in the Stadio Olimpico, the home side came within inches of levelling the tie on aggregate as captain Lorenzo Pellegrini rattled the post.
The Serie A side had better fortune on the hour as the Dutch side failed to clear their lines and Leonardo Spinazzola’s deflected shot ended up in the bottom corner.
Roma sensed another and momentarily though they had when Bryan Cristante had the ball in the net only for a push by Tammy Abraham to be spotted.
When Brazilian winger Igor Paixao was left unmarked moments later to turn home a free header, three quarters of the stadium was silenced and the visitors were elated.
However, with just a minute remaining on the clock, Pellegrini found substitute Paulo Dybala who swiftly turned his marker and fired home from a difficult angle.
Into extra-time and Roger Ibanez hit the woodwork but there seemed an inevitability that, backed by a raucous crowd, the home side would prevail and from a Pellegrini ball, Abraham rolled it across and there was Stephan El Shaarawy to tap in from close range.
Rome was rocking and the Italians had broken Feyenoord hearts once more.
Just to rub salt into the wounds, man of the match Pellegrini added a fourth in the second part of extra-time, converting a rebound from an Abraham shot.
Santiago Gimenez’s red card for a high tackle in the final seconds merely summed up the frustration felt by all those in the visiting ranks.
So close, yet so far again.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
