The Europa League semifinals matches were established on Friday with the two Champions league crossovers facing off the two remaining Europa league group stage contenders.
Chelsea will get a chance to take on FC Basel in the semifinals. Basel is coming off a tremendous penalty shootout win against Tottenham Hotspur after the two sides drew 4-4 in the aggregate. The Swiss side took down Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the round of 32 before disposing of Zenit St. Petersburg in the round of 16. Meanwhile Chelsea finished in third in its Champions league group and was forced to face Sparta Prague in round of 32. Chelsea won the aggregate 2-1 and then struggled in the opening leg against Steaua Bucharest. However, a 3-1 win sent the English giants through to face off against Rubin Kazan. A 3-1 win at home proved to be the difference as Chelsea fell 3-2 in the return leg.
Favorite: Chelsea
Matchups: April 25, May 2
Meanwhile Benfica will face off against Fenerbahçe. The Turkish side topped Group C with 13 points. As a reward, the team had an opportunity to face BATE Borisov, the champions league team that drew third place in its group. Fenerbaçhe won the aggregate 1-0 and set up a match with Czech side Viktoria Plzeň. The team won the aggregate 2-1 in the round of 16. In its recent quarterfinals matchup, the team stunned Lazio 3-1 over two legs. Benfica earned third place behind Barcelona and Celtic in the Champions league but took care of Bayer Leverkusen in the round of 32. In the round of 16 the team took down Bordeaux 1-0 in the opening match and then won 3-2 in the return leg. In the quarterfinals, Benfica made easy work of Newcastle United in the opening leg and held on for a 4-2 aggregate win.
Favorite: Benfica
Matchups: April 25, May 2