We’re in the latter stages now. “The run-in”. The stakes climb ever higher, the margins for failure shrink ever smaller. From the Spains to the Japans, all discerning eyes are locked on the four delicately-poised ties that constitute the 2023/24 Europa Conference League quarter-finals.
FC Viktoria Plzeň – ACF Fiorentina
Viktoria Plzeň have played eight games in this season’s Conference League. They have conceded one goal – away to Astana in Kazakhstan six months ago, in a game they went on to win 2-1. Their defence is, by a distance, the most accomplished in Conference League history (LASK of Austria also conceded only one goal in the 2021-22 group stage, but lost their second knockout round tie 7-5 on aggregate). They have managed this remarkable feat despite playing three different goalkeepers in this season’s competition, with Czechia number one Jindřich Staněk (now at Slavia Praha) the only one to disgrace himself by conceding a goal. Young prospect Viktor Baier kept three clean sheets in three appearances in the group stage, but Plzeň preferred senior keeper Martin Jedlička for their second knockout round tie against Swiss side Servette – and were duly rewarded by an incredible display in which Jedlička saved 12 shots across two goalless legs and added another two decisive saves in the penalty shootout that sent Plzeň through. The Czechs’ resolve at the back aside, they could do with their forward line stepping up to secure an advantage in their crucial home leg against Fiorentina. Their top scorer in all competitions, young attacking midfielder Pavel Šulc, has only managed a single goal in this season’s Conference League, away to Ballkani in November, and was unable to break down a Servette defence that could be charitably described as “porous”. Their only other player to hit double figures this season, the centre-forward Tomáš Chorý, was similarly blunt.
Plzeň are perhaps lucky that Fiorentina find themselves in one of their customary spells of wretched form – I Viola have won only two of 12 league games they’ve played in 2024. The Florentines also made astonishingly heavy weather of doing the world a favour and knocking out Maccabi Haifa, requiring a late red card and an injury-time goal to win the away leg in Serbia 4-3 and then drawing 1-1 back home. It was, appropriately enough, Czech midfielder Antonín Barák who grabbed the decisive goals against Maccabi, and the chief source of intrigue in this tie will be whether he can repeat the trick against his compatriots in the Plzeň defence – Václav Jemelka and the newly-minted full international Robin Hranáč – as well as Liberian international Sampson Dweh. Barák will most likely be aided on the right wing by Nicolás González, Fiorentina’s only player to net 10 goals this season, since former Lille prospect Jonathan Ikoné’s spell in Tuscany is only growing more wretched by the month. I would expect this tie to be one higher in tension than goals, but if they can keep their heads Plzeň have every chance of hammering another nail into Fiorentina’s season.
Olympiakos SFP – Fenerbahçe SK
In a quarter-final where every tie looks compelling, this might just be the pick of the bunch. The two teams, respective representatives of the long-running rivalry between Greece and Turkey, last met in the group stages of the 2021-22 Europa League – only for Olympiakos to win 3-0 in Istanbul and 1-0 in Piraeus, condemning Fenerbahçe to the Conference League knockouts in the process. (Fener lost to Slavia Praha in the first knockout round.) Both clubs are in tight pursuit in their respective title races; Olympiakos find themselves four points and three places behind PAOK while, in the latter stages of an increasingly unhinged Süper Lig season, Fenerbahçe are two points behind Galatasaray with three games to go. Olympiakos are only here courtesy of a comeback for the ages, having rebounded from a crushing 4-1 defeat at home to Maccabi Tel-Aviv by winning the away leg 6-1, extra-time goals from Manchester City legend Stevan Jovetić and 37-year-old Moroccan veteran Youssef El-Arabi enough to get the Erythroleykoi over the line. Olympiakos’ tactic of bringing on El-Arabi late in games, as a substitute for his comparatively sprightly 30-year-old compatriot Ayoub El Kaabi, worked well for them in that game, but it is El Kaabi who is clearly the greater threat, having scored five goals in his four Conference League games this season.
Fener face the unenviable task of being the first team to stop El Kaabi scoring, and will be hoping that Fred is fit – the Brasilian has arguably proven their most important signing since his arrival last summer, lending grit and dynamism to an otherwise sometimes porous midfield, but has been bedevilled by injury problems since November. (He was fit enough to play the majority of his side’s knockout tie against Union Saint-Gilloise, which Fener ultimately won comfortably.) His late-career flourishing as a midfield general has been complemented by the drive of Sebastian Szymański, while Fener also boast a devastating array of attacking talent. Edin Džeko and Michy Batshuayi have both notched over 20 goals this season, while Džeko’s fellow itinerant Balkan veteran Dušan Tadić has looked a level above his surroundings all campaign. The trio have, along with Szymański and Turkish winger İrfan Kahveci, produced a frankly ridiculous 84 goals and 52 assists between them in all competitions this season. Their defence has nevertheless looked vulnerable behind a Fredless midfield at times, never more so than when a cobbled-together side lost 6-1 away to Nordsjælland in the group stage, and so when paired with Olympiakos’ own front-foot-forward squadbuilding this tie ought to promise goals. Taking a draw back to Istanbul would probably suit Fenerbahçe just fine, but despite their domestic chaos their abundance of talent means they are the clear favourites.
Aston Villa FC – Lille OSC
Whoever wins this tie will be clear favourites to win the competition. Aston Villa and Lille are the two strongest sides remaining (on paper, at least), both with experienced and talented managers. Villa have been favourites for the competition since day 1, given their Premier League resources and Unai Emery’s Midas touch in Europe, but currently find themselves ravaged by injuries and suspension amid a fierce battle for a Champions League place domestically. Defensive injuries have resulted in an ever-changing backline yet to settle into any firm rhythm, with neither Diego Carlos nor Clément Lenglet consistently convincing next to Pau Torres (who himself endured an awful display against Brentford at the weekend). This is compounded in central midfield, where neither John McGinn nor Youri Tielemans are truly natural partners for Douglas Luiz in a double pivot. Emery’s side still offer plenty of menace, however. Ollie Watkins has been nothing less than one of the best forwards in Europe this season, a tally of 24 goals and 10 assists themselves barely doing justice to his all-round workrate and capacity to torment opposing centre-backs, while Leon Bailey and a resurgent Moussa Diaby offer pace and trickery around him.
Amid such a demanding schedule, Villa could probably have done without facing Lille. Les Dogues, currently in their second season with Paulo Fonseca at the helm, have only lost three games since the start of October and sit fairly securely in Ligue 1’s last Champions League qualification spot, behind only PSG, Monaco and this season’s surprise package Brest. To make matters worse for Villa, Lille come into this tie on the back of a 3-1 win over Marseille that was far more emphatic than the scoreline suggests. Star forward Jonathan David is in rare form, having scored 11 goals in 11 league games in 2024, and may finally fulfil Fabrizio Romano’s long-cherished wish of moving to a bigger club this summer. Used sparingly in the Conference League up to this point, his brace in the first leg of Lille’s second knockout round tie with Sturm Graz was the difference-maker, ensuring a comfortable 3-0 win on the night that contributed to a 4-1 aggregate victory. Lille’s backline is anchored by two young prodigies, 22-year-old goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier and 18-year-old centre-back Leny Yoro; Chevalier is likely to stay at Lille for the long haul but Yoro, with a contract expiring next summer, will almost certainly leave the club in the next few months. That will come as little comfort to the attackers looking to tangle with him in the meantime, while Yoro and Chevalier’s composure and ability despite their tender years give the rest of Fonseca’s team the license to play more adventurously. The good news for Villa is that if they can keep David contained, Lille have no other goal threats of the same calibre; the wingers Yusuf Yazıcı and Edon Zhegrova are canny players but have 10 and 11 goals in 40-odd games this season respectively. Then again, Villa have no-one else able to do the things Watkins does. A difficult tie to call; Villa remain narrow favourites but it would be foolish to write off a Lille side with this one’s potential.
Club Brugge KV – PAOK
Two of this competition’s lesser-heralded but very capable sides meet in Belgium tonight; the tragedy is that one of them will be eliminated next week. PAOK sprang a delightful surprise by beating Eintracht Frankfurt twice to comfortably top their qualification group, while Brugge have oozed class throughout this campaign despite Ronny Deila recently paying the price for underwhelming domestic form. Both PAOK and Brugge suffered first-leg reverses in their second knockout round ties (to Dinamo Zagreb and Molde respectively); both rebounded in style in their home legs. Brugge perhaps have the advantage of knowing their title challenge is all but over, with an attendant focus on this competition, whereas PAOK lead a very close pack in the Greek Super League and cannot afford to lose any ground because of European concerns. Brugge’s key player to watch is Igor Thiago, off to Brentford this summer after a phenomenal breakout season in Vlaanderen. He is ably assisted by a strong supporting cast including Andreas Skov Olsen and talismanic midfielder Hans Vanaken. Andrija Živković is PAOK’s main man on the wing, ably partnered by Kiril Despodov on the other wing and Greek starlet Giannis Konstantelias in attacking midfield. While connoisseurs of Premier League might-have-beens may enjoy the sight of Chelsea legend Baba Rahman at left-back (he opened the scoring in PAOK’s second-leg comeback over Dinamo), they will have to make do without one-time Watford man William Troost-Ekong, currently out injured. Whichever side triumphs in this tie will face one of Plzeň or Fiorentina in the semi-finals; all four sides will fancy their chances of making the final in Athens.
