We could still be in line for an all-English final in the UEFA Europa League this season with Arsenal and Chelsea lining up in opposite semifinals. The tournament is down to the final four now with the first leg of the ties being played on Thursday, May 2nd. The return fixtures will be played a week later.
Standing in the way of that potential all-English final are Valencia and Eintracht Frankfurt who meet the Gunners and Chelsea respectively in the final four.
The prize here is not only the taste of glory in picking up a piece of European silverware, but the winner also gets a place in the Champions League group stage next season (if not already qualified through their domestic league standings).
Arsenal v Valencia
The Gunners get home advantage in this tie to start with. That’s not the most favourable route to go for them, but maybe it will work out for them. After cruising to a group win at the first stage of the competition, Arsenal did hit a couple of bumps in the road in the first couple of knockout stage ties.
They lost the first legs out on the road against BATE and then Rennes in the rounds of 32 and 16 respectively. The Gunners overturned a 1-0 away loss against Belarusian side BATE and then had to claw their way back from a 3-1 first leg away defeat against French unit Rennes. In taking on the much stronger Napoli in the quarterfinals, Arsenal started at home and had no trouble in the tie as they cruised to a 3-0 aggregate win.
Home start good for Gunners?
So maybe Arsenal, who are 4/6 odds-on favourites To Qualify from the tie, are well positioned in starting on home soil. Twelve months ago Arsenal lost out at this stage of the tournament, suffering 2-1 aggregate against eventual winners Atletico Madrid. As for Valencia, they dropped front the Champions League this season where they finished third in their group behind Juventus and Manchester United.
They were relatively comfortably in their ties against Celtic and Krasnodar, before going up against their local rivals Villarreal in the quarterfinals. Valencia came racing straight out of the blocks in the tie though, landing a 3-1 away win in the first leg, helped out by their opponents going down to ten men. Valencia won the all-Spanish tussle 2-0 on aggregate.
Previous Meetings
There isn’t much history between these two. Their first meeting was in the 1980 Cup Winners’ Cup Final which the Spaniards won on a penalty shootout. Valencia then took an away goal win in their Champions League quarter-final tie in 2001. The following season they met again in the Champions League with Valencia earning a draw and a win in the second group stage. That leaves Valencia with a W2 D2 L1 record against the Gunners.
Arsenal’s record in European semi-finals is W5 L2 while Valencia’s European semi-final record is at W4 D2. Valencia are previous winners of the UEFA Cup, claiming the title back in 2014 over Marseille. Arsenal’s previous appearance in the final ended in a loss in 2000 against Galatasaray. Valencia are 11/10 with leading bookmakers To Qualify from this tie.
Eintracht Frankfurt v Chelsea
The Blues get to start this tie out on the road, which leaves them with the more favourable situation of having home advantage to settle the tie. Chelsea are strong odds-on favourites to the tune of 4/9 with leading bookmakers To Qualify from this tie. It could all hinge on how well their defence holds itself together on the road in Germany. This will be the first-ever meetings in UEFA competition between the two clubs.
Chelsea on cruise control
It has not been the most strenuous or stressful of tournaments for Chelsea at all. They only dropped the two points in the group stage, sauntering to the group win. In the round of 32, the Blues posted a 5-1 aggregate victory over Malmo before dispatching Dynamo Kiev by an 8-0 aggregate in the round of sixteen. It did then get a little more stressful for them in the quarterfinals against Slavia Prague.
The Blues were heavy favourites to win the tie but came under some pressure in the first leg away from home. Slavia Prague created plenty of chances, but couldn’t get their breakthrough and Chelsea snatched a late winner. In the second leg at Stamford Bridge, they found themselves 4-1 ahead at half time before a second-half collapse when Petr Sevcik netted a quick brace for the visitors to heap some pressure on the Blues. Chelsea held out for 5-3 aggregate win.
Frankfurt a goal scoring threat
Eintracht Frankfurt powered their way to a 100% record in the group stage of the Europa League this season. It was impressive from them and they posted a 6-3 aggregate win over Shakhtar Donetsk in the round of 32. They then were underdogs for a round of sixteen tie against Inter Milan, but a second leg away win at the San Siro gave the Germans a 1-0 aggregate success.
Then in the quarterfinals, after their 10-man performance ended in a 4-2 loss in Lisbon against Benfica in the first leg, things looked dire for Frankfurt. However, the Germans turned things around with a 2-0 home win, moving through on away goals. That was some character they showed, not only back on home soil, but in the way, they never gave up in Lisbon and kept pushing with a man disadvantage to get those precious away goals. Frankfurt are 13/8 underdogs with leading bookmakers to win this tie.
There may be goals in this tie. Chelsea (30) and Frankfurt (28) at the top two highest scorers in this season’s Europa League. Chelsea’s Olivier Giroud is the top scorer in this season’s competition with 10, but Frankfurt’s Luka Jovic isn’t far behind with an eight-goal haul. Chelsea’s William is the joint-top assist-maker this season with seven, with Frankfurt’s Mijat Gacinovic on five.
Frankfurt hold a W2 L1 record from previous European semi-finals, while Chelsea are at W5 L7.
