The Europa League semi-finals will feature two Italian sides, Napoli and Fiorentina, the reigning champions Sevilla of Spain, and Kyiv side Dnipro.
Fiorentina 2-0 Dynamo Kyiv (3-1 aggregate)
Fiorentina march on to the semi-finals with a convincing victory over Dynamo Kyiv. Some questions were asked of the Italian side after they narrowly equalized in stoppage time of the first leg to snag a precious away goal, but that advantage was not needed as they were victorious on the night in Florence.
It took German striker Mario Gomez just four minutes to fire a shot home off of a rebound save from Shovkovskiy. Gomez struck again in the 41st minute when he cheekily redirected a long cross in and sent the ball rolling around the goalkeeper before tucking itself neatly in the corner of the goal.
Fiorentina were on the front foot for the remainder of the half, striking the woodwork twice and forcing some acrobatics from Kyiv’s defenders and their goalkeeper.
While Kyiv had some good chances going forward, they were unable to produce in the final third. In back, they were consistently unraveled by Fiorentina’s strong offense. The Italians were excellent at sending long crosses in from the wings and those were a constant threat to the Ukrainians. At the end of the 90, the guests had been unable to find the back of the net and Fiorentina marched on. They will meet the defending champions Sevilla in a tantalizing semi-final fixture.
Zenit 2-2 Sevilla (3-4 aggregate)
Zenit St. Petersburg gave the Spaniards a run for their money in Russia on Wednesday night but the defenders of the Europa League title proved that they were up to the task in a two-goal thriller.
Sevilla were on the front foot for the majority of the match, earning themselves a quick penalty kick in the opening minutes of the game. Bacca stepped up to the spot to take the kick and made no mistake firing home a powerful penalty kick into the roof of the net.
Hulk made his return to the home side but he was relatively quiet throughout the first half. Sevilla once again demonstrated their admirable organization to deny quick counter-attacks from Zenit and settled into a good rhythm of possession to keep their opposition off the ball.
Zenit were quick to collect themselves after the restart. Sevilla’s goalkeeper Beto made a horrid error and fumbled a long ball that was whipped towards his goal. Rondon was there to pick up the pieces and tapped the ball in to put his side level. In the 72nd minute, Zenit had been gaining momentum and continuously threatening Sevilla’s goal. The Spanish side was frazzled and scrambling in back to try and reorganize when Hulk got on the end of another rebound, this time off of the crossbar. Zenit were ahead on the night, tied on aggregate, and threatening to overtake the defending champs.
Five minutes from time when it looked like the game was headed into extra time, substitute Gameiro fired home a picture-perfect shot from the corner of the box into the corner of the net. Sevilla progress and will face Fiorentina.
Dnipro 1-0 Club Brugge (1-0 aggregate)
After playing out an agonizingly well-matched fixture in Belgium, the two sides went head to head in Kyiv with all the spoils on the line.
Once again, a majority of the game was played out in the midfield and the two teams were stuck in a deadlock. The home side looked good in possession but Brugge still sported one of the best defensive records in European football and refused to give in. At the half, they were still tied at 0-0 with the semi-final spot up for grabs.
In the second half, Dnipro came out strong once again, knowing that they could face stoppage time and penalties if they failed to score. Brugge had a few good rushes at the goal in the second forty-five but their attack was unconvincing and the Ukrainians looked like the ones to find the goal.
Sure enough, eight minutes from time the home side were the ones to find a breakthrough. Brugge’s solid defense suddenly fell to pieces thanks to the individual brilliance of Shakhov. The midfielder was making a good run at goal with options in the box but opted for a quick cut back to lose his marker. With time and space on his side, he made no mistake and fired home his first goal of the campaign.
Dnipro deservedly advance and they will face tough opposition in Italy’s Napoli.
Napoli 2-2 Wolfsburg (6-3 aggregate)
The Europa League’s least experienced side, Vfl Wolfsburg, crashed out of the competition after they were unable to overcome the 4-1 scoreline Napoli boasted from the first leg.
Hamsik had been a terror up top for Napoli last week and gave Wolfsburg’s defenders a torrid time. The German side have one of the best defensive records domestically, but Rafa Benitez’s men proved that patience and organization could break down any team.
Wolfsburg were the first to create any solid chances, needing to score at least four goals in Naples to advance, but Napoli were the ones to finally get on the score sheet early in the second half. After a relatively dull first forty-five, Callejon found the breakthrough for the home side. His shot was a lucky deflection off of Wolfsburg’s Ricardo Rodriguez that sailed over the hands of Benaglio into the back of the net.
Napoli struck again fifteen minutes later when Mertens followed up a loose stop from Benaglio and put his side 2-0 up on the night. There was a glimmer of hope for the Germans when they found the net twice in two minutes. Swiss defender Klose had a smooth header off of a corner kick to score a dignity goal for the night and moments later Perisic added to it to level the score on the night but the four goals conceded in the first leg were too much to overcome and Napoli sailed through to the semis.
