At the Allianz Stadium the semi-final first leg between Juventus and Sevilla, with the Bianconeri eager to win the Europa League final in Budapest, at the Puskas Arena, on May 31st. The Old Lady, after eliminating Sporting Lisbon in the quarter-finals, challenges the Andalusians who beat Manchester United. Tonight the first leg, next Thursday will be played the return leg in Spain, 180 minutes to play against a team that knows the competition well.
Massimiliano Allegri, in the press conference: "They have won the trophy six times, they are an experienced team and used to this type of game, and we will have to do well, we want to take a beautiful goal like the final in Budapest. We have to be careful because Sevilla is a team that never leaves games, so we will have to think about doing our best." Regarding the new penalties, the coach assures: "They did not affect the locker room. I don't know what will happen, but now we have such armor that nothing touches us anymore, from this experience we come out strongened, we have these two semi-finals in the Europa League and four in the league, we must do our best trying to go to the final and keep second place. By doing this we will have done ours."
On the opposite side, José Luis Mendilibar, Sevilla coach, said: "There is hope, I am new to all this because I am responsible for players who are not new in games like this. I'm calm and very excited for tomorrow's game. It will not be the same as in Manchester because it is an Italian team, it is a different football", adds the Spanish coach, "They take advantage of the goals they make without going to look for others. That is the risk we have. Who would I take away from Allegri? The whole team worries me. They are good defensively, they change the way they play, on the wings, with two-three midfielders. It is difficult to find voids, room for manoeuvre. Everyone talks about individuality like Vlahovic and Di Maria, but I would emphasize a lot the centers they have. They are good defenders."
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Allianz Stadium , Juventus
Probable formations
Juventus (3-5-2): Szczesny; Danilo, Bremer, Alex Sandro; Cuadrado, Fagioli, Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostic; Di Maria, Vlahovic. Coach: Massimiliano Allegri;
Sevilla (4-2-3-1): Bounou; Navas, Badé, Marcão, Acuña; Gudelj, Fernando; Ocampos, Rakiti?, Lamela; En-Nesyri. Head coach: José Luis Mendilibar;
Referee: Michael Oliver ENG Assistants: Stuart Burt ENG - Lee Betts ENG Fourth Man: Craig Pawson ENG Video Assistant Referee: Stuart Attwell ENG Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Chris Kavanagh ENG.
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