The UEFA Europa League continues on Thursday with the second leg of the Round of 16.
Here are five key matches to keep close tabs on.
Dynamo Kyiv vs Everton
Despite conceding an away goal in the first leg, it could have been a lot worse for the Toffees. A hard fought comeback 2-1 win—Romelu Lukaku setting up Steven Naismith and netting the winner from the spot to cancel out Oleg Gusev’s early strike at Goodison Park—salvaged a slight advantage heading into the second leg in Kyiv.
The hosts are unbeaten in their last four home matches—winning by two goals or more—but Everton has produced their best form this season in Europe and are riding a four-match unbeaten run away from home. Everton are in a good position to be the only English side still contending for European honours come Friday morning.
Thursday programming alert: Watch Dynamo Moscow vs Napoli on the four main Sportsnet channels at 1:00 pm ET, Dynamo Kyiv vs Everton on Sportsnet One at 2:00 pm ET, AS Roma vs Fiorentina on Sportsnet World at 2:00 pm ET, Inter Milan vs Wolfsburg on Sportsnet One at 4:00 pm ET and Torino vs Zenit Saint Petersburg on Sportsnet World at 4:00 pm ET. || Watch these games online at Sportsnet World NOW: Besiktas vs Club Brugge at 4:00 pm ET, Ajax vs Dnipro at 4:00 pm ET and Sevilla vs Villarreal at 4:00 pm ET.
AS Roma vs Fiorentina
The Stadio Olimpico has already witnessed a couple of 2-nil score lines this season between the two Serie A sides—Roma recording a league victory back in August and more recently being knocked out of the Coppa Italia over a month ago. In the first leg, Vincenzo Montella was 13 minutes away from gaining the upper hand on his counterpart Rudi Garcia in the visiting dugout in Florence, but Seydou Keita reversed the momentum through a headed equalizer and the game ended 1-1.
Roma can advance to the last eight with a goalless draw or win on Thursday in the Italian capital. Should the hosts crash out, the pressure will only intensify for their embattled manager, as speculation continues to flow about his possible removal—Roma have won only four of their last 16 total matches (10 draws) in 2015.
Inter Milan vs Wolfsburg
Roberto Mancini has gone on record saying that a 2-0 home victory on Thursday isn’t an impossible mission for Inter, who are currently on an 11-match European home unbeaten run, with four clean sheets from their five fixtures this season. However, Wolfsburg have only failed to score in four of their 37 total matches this term, scoring 19 goals in nine Europa League fixtures, and are second only to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga with 56 goals in 25 matches.
Kevin De Bruyne was the hero last week, netting twice in a 3-1 win to give his side a sizeable advantage heading to San Siro. It will take something special for the Nerazzurri to keep the green German freight train from rolling through and into the quarterfinals.
Sevilla vs Villarreal
Sevilla can attest that a two-goal home defeat in the first-leg doesn’t necessarily mean that progression into the next round is a foregone conclusion. The reigning Europa champions overcame a 2-0 home loss to rivals Real Betis last year in the semifinal stage, winning in a dramatic penalty shootout.
After earning a 2-0 win away to Villarreal in the first leg, the hosts are favoured in Thursday’s fixture at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium, though the visitors can maintain some hope from their opponent’s example last season that a comeback is possible. Sevilla got off to quick start last week when Vitolo scored the fastest goal in Europa League/UEFA Cup history at the Estadio El Madrigal—clocking in at 13.21 seconds—surpassing the previous record (15.19 seconds) held by AEK Athens striker Ismael Blanco in 2009.
Besiktas vs Club Brugge
The Black Eagles are hoping to feed off the energy of a boisterous home crowd at the Ataturk Olimpiyat Stadium in Istanbul on Thursday. Besiktas have been down this road before, having lost the first-leg at Anfield in the previous round, and winning in penalty shootout on home soil.
The difference this time around is pocketing a precious away goal in Brugge last week, before squandering the early lead and conceding twice to their Belgian hosts. A 1-0 victory will be enough to progress to the last eight for Besiktas, who are on a four-match unbeaten run in the competition at home. On the other hand, Brugge have a near-perfect away record in Europe (five wins and one draw) heading into Thursday’s return fixture.
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