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EUROPA LEAGUE: Top five talking points - Europa comes of age at Anfield as the Shakhtar Express stays right on track
1) Thursday nights like this make the Champions League look dull
The Europa League has been mocked consistently down the years as being a pale imitation of the fancier Champions League tournament with some teams happy to miss out qualifying for it altogether.
There has been justification for this at times with under-strength teams regularly being fielded to combat the stresses and strains of a long league season across the continent.
This season, however, there has been a sparkle in the eye of managers and players alike with the exploits of Liverpool tonight underlining the renewed vigour of the competition.
Tottenham suffered from a poor first leg in the previous round against Borussia Dortmund and were never fully able to recover, but Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side have gone from strength to strength.
Manchester United were dealt with in clinical fashion then, after navigating a tricky first leg at the Westfalenstadion, his team produced a second-half comeback for the ages to seal a semi-final spot.
With a Champions League place now on offer for winning the Europa League, it will be even more fascinating to see which of Liverpool, Shakhtar Donetsk, Villarreal and Sevilla triumph next month.
2) European nights at Anfield are very hard to beat
Liverpool and Europe have enjoyed a productive union since 1964, the Anfield faithful rewarded with several trophies against high-quality opposition across the board.
The glorious European Cup era under Bob Paisley set the tone on the back of two UEFA Cup wins that whetted the appetite for lovers of the beautiful game up Mersey way.
Manchester United and the original European trailblazers Tottenham Hotspur aside, there are not many English sides that can truly lay claim to having brought a certain romance to European nights.
Liverpool are definitely one of them as well, the hair on the back of your neck standing right up on end for neutrals and home supporters alike whenever the side takes to the pitch.
The Reds have failed to reach those heights since their Europa semi-final six years ago, however this current side is displaying a fiercer set of continental chops thanks to their new darling Klopp and anything is possible.
3) Villarreal can finally end their semi-final hoodoo
Valencia and Porto have both put Villarreal to the sword at the last-four stage of the Europa League and gone on to win the tournament outright.
One of the modern game’s biggest overachievers based on their tiny fan base, they have impressive momentum this time around heading into the semi-final draw mainly thanks to red-hot striker Cédric Bakambu.
The Congolese international netted twice more against Sparta Prague in the Czech Republic to extinguish any hopes of a quarter-final comeback following the 2-1 reverse back in Spain.
Marcelino’s side eased back in the second half to give the home fans some cheer, nevertheless expect them to come out quickly again in the semi-final with Bakambu let off the leash.
After playing for the French U18, U19 and U20 sides, current French senior boss Didier Deschamps might regret not having fought harder to keep him in the national set-up ahead of Euro 2016 this summer.
4) Can anyone stop the Shakhtar Express?
It was quite the night for Shakhtar Donetsk on Thursday as Croatian stalwart Darijo Srna marked his record-breaking 486th game for Shakhtar with a goal and two assists.
The right-back has plied his trade in the Ukraine since 2003, resisting overtures from many top sides along the way, and he was rewarded with adulation aplenty throughout the game.
Unfortunately for Braga centre-back Ricardo Ferreira, he had a night to forget with two own goals in the 4-0 drubbing and 6-1 aggregate score that will take time to forget back in Portugal.
Shakhtar will not have it so easy in the last four, of that there is no doubt, nevertheless they can keep the party atmosphere going based on their tight-knit displays of late.
Coach Mircea Lucescu has been around the European block hundreds of times for several top sides and his wisdom, allied with the Srna afterglow, could well see them lift the trophy come May.
5) Sevilla will not give up the trophy without a fight
They may have needed penalties to get past fellow La Liga outfit Athletic Bilbao to reach the last four, but there is plenty more left in the tank of this Sevilla side.
Kevin Gameiro pulled up late in extra-time for the home side with apparent cramp, yet he stepped up to take the crucial penalty and score to send them through 5-4 from the spot.
The French international’s 59th-minute goal looked like being enough in normal time until Raul Garcia’s second for Bilbao 10 minutes from the end levelled it up 3-3 on aggregate with extra-time not separating the two teams either.
Forward Gameiro could have hid away from the responsibility during the shootout in the state he was in, however he put Sevilla on his shoulders and none of the three remaining teams will want to face them in the semi-finals.
Join me on 28th April for the next round of reflection.
