Europa League semi-final: Can West Ham reach the final with Soucek and co? How do the hated Rangers fare against Leipzig?

On Thursday, the last four teams will enter the Europa League semi-finals to fight for a place in the dream final. In the first match, London’s West Ham will take on Germany’s Frankfurt. The second semi-final will see Leipzig take on Scottish Rangers.

West Ham United vs. Eintracht Frankfurt
The first match between West Ham and Frankfurt will take place in London. A large part of Czech fans will surely wish success to the English team, as three Czech representatives play for them. They are Tomáš Souček, Vladimír Coufal and Alex Král.

The Czech trio managed to reach the quarter-finals of the Europa League with Slavia in 2019, where they fell to Chelsea. Now at the service of West Ham, they stand just outside the gates of the final and would like to make an indelible mark on the history of the London club.

However, Frankfurt of Germany, who have been performing brilliantly in the Europa League, stand in their way. They knocked out Real Betis in the eighth round after 2-1 and 1-1. Another Spanish team also met in the quarter-finals. It was Barcelona, which was one of the biggest favourites to win the trophy. However, after 1: 1 and 3: 2 matches, the German team advanced to the semi-finals.

The Hammers knocked out Sevilla in the eighth round, although they lost the first match 0:1. In the second leg they won 2:0, the first goal was scored by Tomáš Souček. In the quarter-finals they met Lyon of France, with whom they played 1:1 and then won 3:0.

The English team is the slight favourite for this double-header. They should be able to cope with the German side despite a large number of injuries in defence. We can also look forward to fantastic spectators on both sides, for example the German ones managed to completely dominate Barcelona’s Camp Nou.

Red Bull Leipzig vs. Rangers FC
Out of the last four teams in the Europa League, Leipzig are the biggest favourites to win the trophy, while the Rangers team is the one people trust the least, even though they have already managed to surprise some of the favourites. Unlike in the other semi-final, both teams had to play games in the last 16 as well.

Leipzig managed to take on Real Sociedad in the first knockout round and eliminated them after 2-2 and 3-1 results. Advancement from the eighth round to the quarter-finals was free for the German side, due to the elimination of Spartak Moscow from the competition. In the quarter-finals they knocked out Atalanta of Italy after 1: 1 and 2: 0.

Scottish Rangers, who are disliked by a large number of Czech fans due to incidents with Sparta or Slavia, advanced from the preliminary group at the expense of Sparta Prague. They managed to sensationally knock out Borussia Dortmund in the last 16 after a 4:2 win in Germany and a 2:2 draw.

In the eighth round, they faced Belgrade, who they first beat 3-0 and then lost 1-2, but thanks to the final score they advanced to the quarter-finals. There they faced Braga from Portugal, whom they played 0:1 and 3:1.

Now the underdog Rangers face another favourite, Leipzig. They would certainly like to build on their elimination of German Dortmund, who they managed to beat 4:2 away from home. Leipzig, however, will be more careful, after all, this is a semi-final where there is no room for error. As in the first semi-final, we can expect a thrilling duel.

The first matches will be played on Thursday 28th April. The rematches will take place a week later, on Thursday 5 May. All matches start at 9pm.

Source: UEFA Europa League