This is where things get interesting in the Europa League. For all the complaining that certain top flight clubs do about it, winning the Europa League is still a prestigious thing. It’s a piece of hardware that fans can point to in order to say their club has had a successful season. Perhaps more importantly, it clinches a club’s berth in the more heralded Champions League. That means the world to teams that have struggled in domestic play and gives proud organizations one last chance to save some face.
Don't miss the first leg of the Europa League Quarterfinals on Thursday, April 5, 2018. All four matches will be broadcast under the FOX umbrella at 3:05 p.m. ET. Check out all the action this weekend at BookMaker.
Europa League Quarterfinals Betting Odds at BookMaker.eu
CSKA Moscow +786
Arsenal -277
Draw +400
Over/Under 2.5 and 3
Not many people thought that CSKA was going to make it to this point after drawing Lyon. Lyon was seen as one of the remaining favorites to win the Europa League, but CSKA dispatched of them in their home stadium in surprising fashion. Lyon won the road leg in Moscow 1-0 and looked all set to advance, but CSKA was able to net a 3-2 victory in France to advance on away goals. CSKA will now face another tough test in Arsenal.
A Europa League title may be the only thing that saves Arsene Wenger’s job. Wenger has had another lackluster year with the Gunners, and fans are calling for his head once again. The club is almost certain to come in sixth in England and that would place them outside of any European competition next season. His club is a pretty hefty favorite to advance, but they nearly blew their commanding lead over AC Milan last round.
Sporting CP +997
Atletico Madrid -322
Draw +407
Over/Under 2.5
Atletico is the favorite to win the Europa League at this point. Spanish football has been the best in the world over the past decade, and Atletico has really turned it on after getting surprisingly bounced out of the Champions League in the Group Stage. This club plays sound defense and has two tremendous talents in Diego Costa and Antoine Greizmann and will be hard to stop.
Sporting have not impressed in their previous Europa League matches. They gave up four goals to Astana in their first knockout round series and nearly fell to Viktoria Plzen in the Round of 16. This club has some young, talented players, but they lack consistency. That will doom them against a well-rounded team like Atletico.
Red Bull Salzburg +383
Lazio Roma -140
Draw +285
Over/Under 2.5
Traditionalists might not like it, but it’s pretty impressive what Salzburg have done since being bought by Red Bull. This club now contends for the Austrian domestic title every year, and it has been gradually performing better in European play too. Getting past Borussia Dortmund to play in their first Europa League Quarterfinals ever puts this team in high spirits coming into a tough match.
Speaking of clubs that traditionalists eschew, Lazio is competitive this season despite having very few Italian players. That gets them tsk-tsked by some in the media, but the results on the field have been fine. Ciro Immobile is going to be expected to finish for Lazio, while Nani leads the attack.
Olympique Marseille +355
Red Bull Leipzig -129
Draw +275
Over/Under 2.5
Despite being an odds-on favorite, Red Bull Leipzig might have a hard time winning the first leg of this tie. Central defender Willi Orban is suspended for this match because of yellow card accumulation and that will hurt the efficacy of the back line.
Amazingly, France had yet to place a team in the Europa League semifinals before Lyon made it to that stage last year. Marseille will be looking to repeat the feat. The club was really impressive against Athletic Bilbao and has performed well in Ligue 1 too this season. They are a live dog.
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