European Football Preview: Semi Finals (Second Leg)

Following the action in the first leg of the European Semi Finals last week, here we take a look at the second leg matches that will ultimately decide who makes it into the Finals of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.

We are just weeks away from the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League coming to an end, and this week we will see football clubs from across Europe compete as they all look to book their places in the Final of their respective competitions. The action begins on the evening of Tuesday 6th May, with the Semi Finals set to conclude on Thursday 8th May 2025.

Starting with the UEFA Champions League, Inter Milan and FC Barcelona are set to face each other at the San Siro, with them level at 3 – 3 on aggregate going into the second leg following what was an extraordinary first leg last week. In the final leg of the other Semi Final, PSG currently hold a one goal advantage when they face Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal in Paris following a narrow 1 – 0 defeat for the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium.

As for the UEFA Europa League, both Manchester United and Spurs look likely to book their place in the Final this week in the second leg of their respective semi-final ties. Ruben Amorim’s United side are 3 – 0 up against Spanish Club Athletic Club going into the second leg at Old Trafford, which Spurs and Ange Postecoglou face a trip to Norway, where they currently hold a strong 3 – 1 lead against Bodø/Glimt following a superb first leg performance at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last week.

Finally, the Conference League sees Real Betis currently hold a very narrow 2 – 1 lead on Italy’s Fiorentina, with the second leg in Florence set to decide the fate of these two teams. As for the other semi-final, Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea look set to confirm a place in the Final following a very comfortable 4 – 1 victory in the first leg in Sweden against Djurgårdens.

Here, we are taking a look ahead at the matches to come across all three European Competitions over the course of this week.

Inter Milan (Italy) vs. FC Barcelona (Spain) – San Siro – UEFA Champions League, Agg. 3 – 3

We will start with the second leg of the enthralling 2024/25 UEFA Champions League Semi Final tie between Italian heavyweights Inter Milan and Spanish Giants FC Barcelona at the iconic and historic San Siro on the evening of Tuesday 6th May 2025. It will be an 8pm kick-off in the heart of Milan.

The first leg saw the two clubs play out an entertaining 3 – 3 draw at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Spain. Marcus Thuram gave Inter a very early lead with an audacious goal in the first minute of the game (1’), before Denzel Dumfries doubled the Italian Club’s advantage just twenty minutes later.

17 year old Spanish forward Lamine Yamal then halved the deficit thanks to a simply spectacular goal with almost half an hour of the game having gone at this point (24’). Ferran Torres then equalised for Hansi Flick and Barcelona, restoring parity at 2 – 2 (38’). Dumfries then got his second goal of the game (63’) before a Yann Sommer own goal made it 3 – 3 (65’), which is, of course, how it stayed.

This is a much anticipated match between two past winners of this highly prestigious competition, with these clubs having been Champions of Europe 8 times between them, with Barcelona having won it 5 times to date, whilst Inter have done so 3 times themselves.

Paris Saint-Germain (France) vs. Arsenal (England) – Parc des Princes – UEFA Champions League, Agg. 1 – 0

Next up is the Second Leg of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League Semi Final tie between Luis Enrique’s Paris Saint-Germain and Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal at the Parc des Princes in the heart of the city of Paris on the evening of Wednesday 7th May 2025 in what is going to be an 8pm kick-off.

In the first leg, Arsenal were narrowly defeated at the Emirates Stadium last week in the first leg. PSG, who are widely seen as the favourites to win this season’s competition, scored their winning goal thanks to an early strike on goal from former FC Barcelona and current France international forward Ousmane Dembele, who scored within the first five minutes of the game (4’).

Both clubs will be looking to reach the Champions League Final for the opportunity to get their hands on this trophy for the what would be the very first time for both of these clubs.

Last time they played in Paris on 13th September 2016, a goal from Alexis Sanchez (77’) salvaged a 1 – 1 draw between Arsenal and their Parisian hosts back in the 2016/17 season after Edinson Cavani had initially given PSG the one nil lead (1’).

Bodø/Glimt (Norway) vs. Spurs (England) – Aspmyra – UEFA Europa League, Agg. 1 – 3

We now move on to the UEFA Europa League, and to the second leg of the 2024/25 Semi Final between Kjetil Knutsen’s Bodø/Glimt and a Tottenham Hotspur side led by their Australian Head Coach Ange Postecoglou at Aspmyra in Norway.

The Lilywhites most certainly have one step in this season’s final, with them holding what is a significant 3 – 1 advantage on aggregate following victory in North London in the first leg last week. In that game, the hosts took the lead at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium through Welsh international forward Brennan Johnson within a minute (1’), before James Maddison then doubled the advantage for Spurs with just over half an hour of the game having gone (34’).

Dominic Solanke then made it 3 – 0 from the penalty spot early on in the second half (61’), with the Norwegian visitors Bodø/Glimt decreasing the deficit thanks to a goal late on in the game from Norwegian midfielder Ulrik Saltnes (83’).

Spurs will be looking to get through to the 2025 UEFA Europa League Final following the second leg as they look to win this competition for the third time in their decorated history, with previous triumphs coming back in the 1971/72 and 1983/84 seasons. They were able to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers (3 – 2 on aggregate) and Anderlecht (2 – 2, 4 – 3 on pens) in these respective finals.

Manchester United (England) vs. Athletic Club (Spain) – Old Trafford – UEFA Europa League, Agg. 3 – 0

Manchester United are previous winners of the Europa League having done so back in the 2016/17 season, when they were able to beat Ajax 2 – 0 in that season’s final. Ruben Amorim’s Red Devils side will be looking to confirm their place in the 2025 UEFA Europa League Final, and they will be confident to do so in the second leg against Athletic Club of Bilbao, Spain.

In the first leg, United were emphatic 3 – 0 winners at the famous San Mames in Spain. Casemiro gave the visitors the lead with half an hour of the game having gone (30’), with Bilbao then going down to ten men thanks to a red card for defender Dani Vivian just a few moments later (35’). Bruno Fernandes then gave United a two goal advantage from the penalty spot just two minutes later (37’).

The Portuguese midfield maestro then completed his brace before the end of the first half in order to make it a great and emphatic 3 – 0 victory for Manchester United in Spain (45’).

United will be looking to win this competition for the second time in this club’s illustrious and highly decorated history this season.

Fiorentina (Italy) vs. Real Betis (Spain) – Stadio Artemio Franchi – UEFA Conference League, Agg. 1 – 2

We now move on to the first of the two UEFA Conference League Semi Final second leg matches to be taking place this week. Fiorentina of Italy are set to welcome Spain’s Real Betis to the Florence Club’s Stadio Artemio Franchi in order to decide who is going to come face to face against one of Chelsea and Djurgårdens in the 2025 Final later this month. This game will be taking place at 8pm on the evening of Thursday 8th May 2025.

In the first leg in Spain, Real Betis were 2 – 1 winners at the club’s Benito Villamarín Stadium thanks to goals from Abde Ezzalzouli (6’) and Manchester United loanee Antony (64’), who scored either side of half time. It was Luca Ranieri who scored the only goal to halve the deficit for La Viola to make things even more interesting going into the second leg in Italy on Thursday night (73’).

Both clubs will be looking to make the final, where they will be looking to win this competition for the first time in both of their histories. Fiorentina have been runners-up in this competition twice, losing 2 – 1 to West Ham United in the 2022 Final, and then again in the 2024 Final, this time against Olympiacos, losing to the Greek outfit 1 – 0 after extra time.

Chelsea (England) vs. Djurgårdens (Sweden) – Stamford Bridge – UEFA Conference League, Agg. 4 – 1

Finally, we move on to Chelsea’s game against Swedish outfit Djurgården at Stamford Bridge in the second leg of the other 2024/25 UEFA Conference League Semi Final that is set to take place on the evening of Thursday 8^th May 2025, with the game set to kick-off at 8pm in the heart of West London.

Enzo Maresca’s Blues side effectively have one foot already in the 2025 Final, with them holding what is an emphatic and comfortable 4 – 1 advantage heading into this game. In the first leg in Sweden, Chelsea scored thanks to goals from the likes of Jadon Sancho (12’), Noni Madueke (43’) and Nicolas Jackson, who scored a brace in this game in the second half (59’, 65’). It was Isak Alexander Alemayehu Mulugeta who scored the only goal of the game for the hosts (68’).

Both Djurgårdens and Chelsea have never won this competition or made it to the final of this competition or won it as a result. The Blues will be looking to get through to the Final so that they can get the great opportunity to get their hands on this trophy for the very first time.

They do have extensive history in European Football, having won 2 UEFA Champions League titles (2011/12 & 2020/21), 2 UEFA Europa League titles (2012/13 & 2018/19), 2 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup titles (1970/71 & 1997/98), and 2 UEFA Super Cup titles (1998 & 2021).

Excitement is building ahead of the action in the second and final leg of the Semi Final ties in the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League, and the UEFA Conference League, which will all begin on Tuesday night, with the conclusion of the Champions League Semi Finals set to take place first this week.

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