A global journey…
European hope for the English teams remains in one competition at least, with Liverpool winning 5-3 on aggregate to get past Benfica, and Fulham seeing off Wolfsburg in the QFs to have an English side possibly contest the final of the second tier club competition for the first time since Middlesborough lost 4-0 to Sevilla in 2006. With both teams on the opposite side of the semi final draw, it could even become an all-English affair.
When Juventus and Liverpool both crashed out of the Champions League at the group stages, they became joint favourites to win the Europa League, along with Valencia. Fulham, dark horses of the competition (having never made it to the knock out rounds of the Uefa Cup before), knocked out holders Shakhtar Donetsk before seeing off Juventus in the last-16, and only now are they being taken seriously. Their semi final draw has put them against Hamburg, who will be loath to take such an impressive cup run lightly.
Liverpool fans have been slow to come round to the idea of a final win in this competition, placing more emphasis on their need to come fourth in the Premier League. After they met an atmosphere of aggression and derision in Portugal when they played Benfica away in the quarter-final, however, they have all come round to the idea of taking the trophy. A 4-1 win at Anfield saw the reds play at their most competitive level all season, and while it may just be too late in the League, a European trophy during a season when all others are out of the Champions League would go some of the way towards making amends for an atrocious season.
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