Liverpool v Sevilla - Preview

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson could make his first start since early April in the Europa League final against Spanish side Sevilla.

The England midfielder, 25, returned from a knee injury in Sunday's 1-1 Premier League draw at West Brom.

Striker Divock Origi could also feature in Basel, Switzerland after returning to training following an ankle injury.

Defender Mamadou Sakho is still banned after failing a drugs test as the Reds chase their 12th European trophy.

"I don't expect to start," said Henderson. "I know I've been out a long time and I've only played 25-30 minutes.

"When I've been injured the team has done very well and played in some big games to get to the final.

"I'm ready to play as long or as little as the manager wants me to."

Sevilla - who have won the trophy for the past two seasons - have no new injury worries, with Denmark midfielder Michael Krohn-Dehli out with a long-term knee injury.

Liverpool know winning Europe's secondary club competition will earn them a place in next season's Champions League group stage. But defeat would leave the Reds without European football - for the second time in three seasons - after they finished eighth in the Premier League.

"Everyone wants to play in the Champions League but if you look back on a career with no trophies and six seasons in the Champions League, it's not the same," said midfielder James Milner.

"It's all about winning trophies and to win any European trophy is a massive achievement."

Jürgen Klopp, Liverpool manager

I came here because I was really convinced of the quality of these players. At the start I was the only person, but now a few more people know. To see how they deserve this final makes me feel really good. I am happy that they could show how strong they are. This is a big chance to take a big step.

The longer you don't win anything, the harder you try. We already know about the desire of our supporters. We know how much they want to win this cup. They showed us in an impressive way, home and away, travelling around Europe. We would really love to be the team that makes these dreams come true. I can promise that we will try everything. The problem is, Sevilla will do the same!

We have to be organised, prepared, take control of moments – be patient to pass for long enough to create that chance. In a final you need to be ready to make mistakes when the whole world is watching. Football doesn't work without mistakes. It's about finding the next solution.

Unai Emery, Sevilla coach

Every time football gives you a chance you have to take it. What we have achieved in recent years is wonderful but you can't stop there; you have to relive it, you have to experience it again. The Sevilla fans know this: they look upon the club as their second wife or second girlfriend.

Liverpool are among the best ten teams in the world. They have a great history – they have won the European Cup five times, the UEFA Cup, English league titles. The team have changed under the new coach, they are a happy team. They're like Athletic Bilbao the way they press and give 100%.

All my players have special characteristics and we need the best of them against Liverpool; we need everything they have. We want to grow. We can change history and have our names recorded in the history of the competition. We must find a balance, though, to keep our emotions in check so we can be fully focused. We'll need it.

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Sevilla v Shakhtar Donetsk - Preview

Unai Emery - Getty Images

Sevilla coach Unai Emery believes it will be a big ask for the Europa League champions to reach the final despite their slender advantage over Shakhtar Donetsk.

Kevin Gameiro's late penalty earned Sevilla a 2-2 draw in Ukraine in last week's semi-final first leg and the two sides meet again on Thursday.

Those away goals mean a goalless draw will be enough for Sevilla to progress.

Sevilla will be without midfielder Michael Krohn-Dehli after he was taken off on a stretcher in the first leg with a serious knee injury.

For Shakhtar, Marcio Azevedo is out because of a knee problem, while Dentinho and Oleksandr Hladkyy are doubtful.

The Europa League represents Sevilla's only chance of playing in next season's Champions League after a run of just one win in seven La Liga games ended their league hopes.

Shakhtar, meanwhile, are in good form. They are unbeaten in their previous 10 games, winning seven of them.

The winner of Thursday's semi-final second leg will meet either Liverpool or Villarreal in the final at Basel's St Jakob-Park stadium on 18 May.

Unai Emery, Sevilla coach

To get to a final you have to take your chances. We need to give our opponents as few of them as possible. Both sides want to get to the final and it will be a very even game.

We're expecting the best Shakhtar there is – they won the tournament in 2009 and they're used to winning their league. Their coach is much more experienced than I am. It is a big ask – they'll be 90 tough minutes and we need to be ready for it.

Mircea Lucescu, Shakhtar coach

In Lviv we had a very good first half but failed to convert several counterattacks. Our biggest mistake, though, was that in the second period we sat back on our 2-1 lead, content to keep it that way until the end of the match.

It will be a complicated second leg. Sevilla are European specialists. There aren't many youngsters; it's all experienced players. And they are headed by a strong coach who does his homework on opponents and never fails to put his game plan across

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Shaktar Donetsk v Sevilla - Preview

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Sevilla will continue their bid for a third consecutive Europa League title when they play Shakhtar Donetsk in Thursday's semi-final first leg.

The Spanish side, winners in 2014 and 2015, like Shakhtar entered this year's competition after being knocked out at the Champions League group stage.

The match will be staged in Lviv, where Shakhtar have had to play home games.

They have been unable to play in their home ground in Donetsk due to the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine. Lviv lies nearly 800km to the west of Donetsk.

Uefa Cup winners in 2009, Shakhtar saw domestic rivals Dynamo Kiev claim their Ukrainian league title on Sunday.

They last met Sevilla in 2007, when the Spanish side's goalkeeper scored an injury-time equaliser to send their Uefa Cup last-16 tie into extra time.

Sevilla went on to win their second successive title and now have the most Europa League titles in history with four in total.

Mircea Lucescu

It is very important to maintain a high performance level. Shakhtar have reached it by lifting the UEFA Cup [in 2009] and now we are in the Europa League semi-finals. Other eastern teams like CSKA [Moskva], Zenit, Galatasaray all won the UEFA Cup but none managed a semi-final after it, none of them repeated their success. I'm very proud of my players and of the team.

We've shown some clips of the two games [against Sevilla in the 2007 UEFA Cup round of 16] to the players. We had ten seconds left! Sevilla went on to win the UEFA Cup. I think they just got lucky. Let's hope the luck they had then now passes to us; everything in life balances itself out.

Unai Emery, Sevilla coach

We're enjoying every moment, we have so much energy right now. Shakhtar's record in the last ten years is spectacular but they have lost important players along the way. We've got to the semi-finals three years in a row and are thinking only of getting through.

We're in great form at the moment. Our players' eyes are open, they are excited, and I think the team is united. We are well aware that we have an opportunity to make history.

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Madrid Hit Four Past Sevilla

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Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty but eventually got on the scoresheet as Real Madrid cut the gap to their neighbours Atlético in second place in La Liga to one point after beating Sevilla 4-0 at the Bernabéu on Sunday.

The margin of victory slightly flattered Real because Sevilla had their chances. Kévin Gameiro missed a penalty for them in the first half with the score at 1-0 and the visitors had an equalising goal wrongly ruled out in the second half, just after Ronaldo had missed from the spot.

Madrid remained third in the table, 10 points behind the leaders Barcelona, whom they face in their next league game at Camp Nou on 2 April, while Sevilla slipped to sixth place.

Sevilla started brightly and had two attempts in the first five minutes but Madrid responded by taking the lead. After a run on the right Gareth Bale found Karim Benzema near the penalty spot and the French striker scored with a half-volley high into the net.

Real continued to press and a Bale shot was turned on to the post by Sergio Rico. A minute later the Wales international flicked a Ronaldo header into the net from close range but was incorrectly ruled offside.

Rico then made two more brilliant saves, first denying Benzema and then Ronaldo, but a moment later Sevilla should have been level. Raphaël Varane was spotted tugging the shirt of Adil Rami while trying to defend a set piece but from the resulting penalty Keylor Navas parried Gameiro’s kick, his third penalty save of the campaign.

Ronaldo, too, missed from the spot in the second half after José Antonio Reyes was penalised for tripping Luka Modric in the area, but the Portuguese fired over.

Bale then headed on to the bar from a corner but a minute later Sevilla looked to have punished Madrid for their wastefulness when Gameiro latched on to a long ball and shot past Navas, but the Frenchman was wrongly ruled offside.

Ronaldo then struck, arriving at the far post to knock in a low pass from Danilo before Bale turned in Benzema’s chipped pass from inside the six-yard area. Jese completed the scoring as injury time approached, finishing off a one-two with his fellow substitute James Rodríguez.

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Gladbach Demolish Sevilla

Borussia Mönchengladbach crushed Sevilla in their Champions League Group D match with two goals from Lars Stindl for a first victory in the competition and one which ended the Spanish club’s hopes of reaching the knockout stage.

Stindl tapped in after 29 minutes and scored again late on, with second-half goals from Fabian Johnson and Raffael, to lift Gladbach to five points in the group and on track for a third-place finish that leads to the Europa League, with their last group match at Manchester City next month.

Sevilla, who scored through Vitolo in the 82nd minute and with Ever Banega adding a stoppage-time penalty, have lost four group games since beating the German side in their opener, and are in bottom place on three and face Juventus next.

Borussia, who had lost three times this year to Sevilla, including twice in the Europa League, took revenge, recording a first home win over a Spanish club in 30 years to continue their excellent run under André Schubert. “It was an important game. We wanted to show that we could win in the Champions League,” Stindl said. The club had not played top-flight European football since reaching the semi-final of 1977-78 European Cup.

Gladbach, who have won seven of their eight matches in the league, got off to a better start, with the Sevilla goalkeeper Sergio Rico forced to make three saves in the opening minutes.

Sevilla, looking to halt a run of three straight defeats, responded with a chance for Yevhen Konoplyanka, who failed to beat the goalkeeper Yann Sommer from three metres out.

Rico was kept busy, however, twice more stopping shots from Stindl, but the attacking midfielder was not to be denied, slipping into the box to tap in a Granit Xhaka shot on goal.

The Swiss international almost scored himself early in the second half, unleashing a shot from 20 yards, with Rico spectacularly palming the ball wide.

Sevilla upped the tempo and came close twice through the Frenchman Kevin Gameiro before Johnson delivered the knockout punch in the 68th with a well-placed curled effort. “We produced a strong performance. Everyone played to their limit,” the USA international said.

Raffael added a third and Vitolo cut the deficit in the 82nd before Stindl responded with his second goal of the evening a minute later in an entertaining finale that included a penalty for Sevilla in stoppage time and converted by Banega.

“Third place is now in our own hands. But the task will be very demanding,” said Schubert, who has steered the club from the bottom of the Bundesliga to fifth place with only two points dropped in his eight games.

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Ramos Agrees Real Deal

Sergio Ramos will remain the heartbeat of the Santiago Bernabeu after agreeing a new deal that will keep him at the club until 2020. 

This news effectively ends the Manchester United speculation that has continued all summer with countless rumours that the Premier League club has been interested in the unsettled Spanish international..

The new deal will be formally announced on Monday in Madrid by the president, Florentino Perez and comes juts in time for the Trofeo Santiago Bernabeu match against Galatasary on Tuesday night.

The new deal sees Ramos salary increased to €10m per year.

Born in Camas, Sevilla, Sergio Ramos began his career at local side Sevilla FC after emerging through the club's youth system alongside Jesús Navas and Antonio Puerta. He made his first-team in La Liga in February 2004 against Deportivo de La Coruña.

In the 2004–05 season, Ramos appeared in 41 games as Sevilla finished sixth and qualified for the UEFA Cup, scoring in home fixtures against Real Sociedad (2–1) and Real Madrid (2–2).

In the summer of 2005, Ramos joined Real Madrid for €27 million, a record for a Spanish teenager at the time. He proved to be the only Spanish player brought in during Florentino Pérez's first stint as Real's president with the Galacticos.

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