Semi-final draw (24 April & 1 May)
Sevilla FC v Valencia CFSL Benfica v Juventus
Final (14 May, 20.45CET; Juventus Stadium, Turin)
Sevilla FC/Valencia CF v SL Benfica/Juventus
Today's UEFA Europa League draw guaranteed a Spanish presence in the final after Sevilla FC were pitted against Valencia CF in an all-Liga semi-final while SL Benfica stand between Juventus and a place in the Turin showpiece.
Sevilla, in 2006 and 2007, and Valencia, in 2004, both won this competition during the UEFA Cup era but only one of these domestic rivals can now proceed to the Juventus Stadium final. Both these teams started their UEFA Europa League campaigns in the group stage, with Sevilla having come through the third qualifying round.
The Bianconeri, meanwhile, will aim to lift the trophy for a fourth time following success in 1977, 1990 and 1993 but must first get past last season's runners-up SL Benfica. Ominously for the Portuguese club, Juventus beat Benfica en route to their triumph 21 years ago. This is a meeting of sides that came over from the UEFA Champions League group stage.The road to the 14 May final in the northern Italian city reached another key milestone with what was an open draw made by UEFA Europa League final ambassador Ciro Ferrara and UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino.
The UEFA General Secretary hailed the "sensational entertainment" witnessed in the quarter-finals before assessing the last-four lineup. "We have three former winners of the competition, Juventus, Sevilla, Valencia – who qualified winning 5-0 after extra time – and last year's finalists Benfica. This certainly promises two fiercely contested semi-finals," Mr Infantino said.
The semi-finals will be played on a home-and-away basis, with the first legs on Thursday 24 April and the returns the following Thursday. For administrative purposes, the last step of the draw defined the winner of semi-final 1 as the designated home team for the final, kicking off at 20.45CET on Wednesday 14 May.
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