The Europa League semifinals offer a double German-British confrontation in search of a place in the decisive match, which will take place on May 18 at Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán in Seville. On the one hand, West Ham, Sevilla’s executioner in the round of 16, welcomes Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg, also against Betis in the round of 16 and Barça in the quarterfinals, while Leipzig awaits Angeliño and Dani Olmo with Rangers from Gio van Bronckhorst.
Eintracht, after Barça’s departure success to a Camp Nou attacked by their supporters, have a pending account with West Ham since the semi-finals of the extinct Cup Winners ’Cup in the 1975-76 season. The ‘hammers’ then won the tie (3-1 in London and 2-1 in Frankfurt) before losing to Anderlecht in their final European final.
Two allowed on Eintracht
Oliver Glasner, whose team is ninth and has no options in the Bundesliga, has lost central defender Evan Ndicka, sent off to Barcelona, and midfielder Krisjan Jakic due to the accumulation of yellow cards . Meanwhile, West Ham are seventh in the Premier and are fighting for places in Europe, although David Moyes, where “this is the most important game of my career”, has booked Jarrod Bowen, Declan Rice, Michail Antonio and Manuel Lanzini in the defeat against Chelsea (1-0) with a goal by Christian Pulisic in the 90th minute.
German football is dreaming of repeating the 1980 UEFA final, when two of its teams faced Borussia Mönchengladbach with victory over Eintracht. This time the other opponents are Leipzig, fourth in the Bundesliga and finalist in the DFB Pokal, with Dani Olmo, booked on Saturday in the defeat against Union Berlin (1-2), and striker Christopher Nkunku as a great asset. In the playoffs they knocked out Real Sociedad.
The Rangers, no two key forwards
The Rangers, second but with little chance of winning the Premier and FA Cup finalists, have already left Borussia Dortmund in the gutter in the playoffs and will try to overcome an important handicap: their strikers Alfredo Morelos and Kemar Roofe, who scored 34 goals Between the two this season, they have none, even their full-back James Tavernier, the top scorer in the Europa League (6), will be.
Possible lineups
West Ham against Eintracht Frankfurt
Stadium: London Stadium
West Ham: Areola; Coufal, Dawson, Diop, Ben Johnson; Soucek, Rice; Bowen, Lanzini, Fornals; Anthony
Coach: David Moyes
Eintracht: Trapp; Tuta, Hinteregger, Almamy Toure; Knauff, Rode, Sow, Kostic; Lindstrom, Kamada; Santos Borre
Coach: Oliver Glasner
Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük (Netherlands)
Leipzig Rangers
Stadium: Red Bull Arena
Leipzig: Gulacsi; Simakan, Orban, Gvardiol; Henrichs, Laimer, Kampl, Angelino; Dani Olmo, Nkunku; Andre Silva
Coach: Domenico Tedesco
Rangers: McGregor; Tavernier, Goldson, Balogun, Bassey; Glen Kamara, Lundstram, Jack; Ayodebele-Aribo, Sakala and Kent
Instructor: Gio van Bronckhorst
Referee: Benoît Bastien (France)
Source: La Verdad
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