Athletic Club Bilbao vs. FC Schalke 04 preview
The winners of Athletic Club Bilbao vs. FC Schalke 04 match will take on Sporting Clube de Portugal or FC Metalist Kharkiv in the semi-finals, playing the second leg at home. Whoever prevails in that tie will be the nominal away side in the final in Bucharest’s National Arena on 9 May.
Athletic have never played in Bucharest, while Schalke won on their only previous visit to the Romanian capital. The German club also played against FC Steaua Bucuresti in this season’s group stage, but the away game took place in Cluj-Napoca.
Schalke have never met any of their potential semi-final opponents.
Schalke could meet German rivals Hannover 96 in the final, or two Spanish sides with which they are also familiar. Their five European games against Atlético ended W1 D1 L2, while their six matches against Valencia ended W2 D3 L1.
There was an all-German UEFA Cup final in 1979/80, when Eintracht Frankfurt got the better of VfL Borussia Monchengladbach on away goals.
Athletic’s only previous meeting with Sporting ended in a 4-2 aggregate defeat in the 1985/86 UEFA Cup third round.
Athletic have never met any of their potential final opponents in UEFA competition, though they have seen plenty of Atlético and Valencia in the Spanish League.
There was an all-Spanish UEFA Cup final in 2006/07, when Sevilla beat Espanyol on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
Schalke 04 vs. Athletic Bilbao UEFA Europa League preview
Having scored hat-tricks in the last two rounds, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is this season’s top scorer in the UEFA Europa League with nine goals. Of the strikers left in the competition, Falcao is his nearest rival with six goals. The Colombian set a competition record last season, scoring 17 goals as he won the trophy with FC Porto.
Midfielder Julian Draxler is the only Schalke player to have played in all ten of their UEFA Europa League games since the start of the group stage.
Schalke are within three goals of conceding their 150th in UEFA club competition games. They have let in an average of one goal a game in their 147 UEFA matches to date.
Athletic‘s Fernando Amorebieta and Xabier Castillo turn 27 and 26 respectively on the day of the first leg.
The Spanish side have conceded more goals since the start of the group stage than any other side left in the competition: 13. Read more
Hannover 96 vs. Standard Liege UEFA Europa League preview
Hannover 96 have yet to lose a home game in Europe, and will look to maintain that momentum as Standard Liege come calling again in their UEFA Europa League round of 16 decider.
Hannover are the least experienced side left in Europe this season; this will be only their 14th UEFA club competition game, while it is Standard’s 198th.
Hannover midfielder Konstantin Rausch celebrates his 22nd birthday on the day of this match.
Hannover boss Mirko Slomka led the club he had previously served as a player and assistant coach into Europe with a fourth-placed Bundesliga finish in his first season in charge.
Slomka is competing in the group stage of this competition for the first time, but enjoyed success in the 2005/06 edition. He led FC Schalke 04 from the round of 32 to the semi-finals after replacing Ralf Rangnick as coach following the group phase.
Standard coach Jose Riga is competing in Europe for the first time. Born in Liege, he previously served as the club’s joint-coach, alongside his predecessor Dominique D’Onofrio, from 2003 to 2005. Since then, he has been in sole command of RAEC Mons and RCS Vise.
Sporting Lisbon vs. Manchester City UEFA Europa League preview
Sporting Lisbon are unbeaten in nine European home games − eight wins and a draw − since a 2-0 loss to Brondby IF in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League play-offs.
Sporting have reached the round of 16 twice since losing the 2004/05 UEFA Cup final 3-1 against PFC CSKA Moskva in Lisbon. They beat City’s English rivals Bolton Wanderers FC in 2007/08, bowing out to Rangers FC in the quarter-finals, then lost to eventual winners Club Atletico de Madrid in the 2009/10 last 16.
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero was a key player in that latter game. Having featured in the goalless first leg in Spain, he struck twice in Lisbon as Atletico drew 2-2 to win the tie on away goals.
City are playing in the round of 16 for the third time in four seasons; they eliminated Aalborg BK in 2008/09, going on to lose to Hamburger SV in the last eight, but bowed out to FC Dynamo Kyiv in the last 16 last season. Read more
Athletic Bilbao vs. Lokomotiv Moskva UEFA Europa League preview
Athletic Club welcome Lokomotiv Moskva to Bilbao looking to overturn a 2-1 deficit and set up a date with AFC Ajax or Manchester United FC in the UEFA Europa League round of 16.
Iker Muniain (36) gave the visitors a deserved lead in Moscow, but the Railwaymen hit back strongly in the second half. Denis Glushakov equalised from the penalty spot (61) after a foul on Felipe Caicedo, who then grabbed the winner with a well-taken finish (71).
The sides have been paired for the first time in UEFA competition.
Athletic’s only experience of Russian opposition prior to this season came in the 1973/74 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup first round, when they drew 0-0 at FC Torpedo Moskva before winning the home leg 2-0. Read more