Now through to the semi-finals of the Europa League, Jurgen Klopp will be without two of his most important midfielders as he attempts to win the competition and lead the club into the Champions League.
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Fresh off a miracle comeback against Dortmund on Thursday, Liverpool will consider themselves lucky to have avoided Europa League holders Sevilla in the semifinal.
The winners of the Europa League will qualify for the playoff round of the Champions League, though would be promoted direct to the group stage if the UCL winners qualify for that stage via their domestic league.
The return leg will take place a week later, with the final scheduled for May 18 at St Jakob’s Park in Basel.
German Klopp has slowly transformed the make-up of the Liverpool team since his arrival at the start of October, albeit with sporadic impact in the Barclays Premier League, where they are in eighth place.
Sevilla is the present victor of the tournament.
Perhaps the sweetest headline for English fans of Liverpool was Die Tageszeitung’s “Dortmund’s going home” – in reference to the English song “Three Lions”, which was also popular in Germany after they won Euro 96.
Twenty-sixteen has been a mixed old bag for the Reds so far this season. It gave everyone a lift, but we need to keep a close eye on him, ‘ said Howe.
Should they progress, the victor between Sevilla and Shaktar Donetsk will await them in the final. They are bidding for a hat-trick of successes this year. It backed that performance up by repeating the feat 11 months ago against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, and now it has another Ukrainian outfit in Shakhtar standing in its way.
But now Liverpool’s attentions turn back to the Premier League, and it heads into the clash at Vitality Stadium in eighth, on the back of just one defeat in their last seven league outings.
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The semi-finals games are scheduled for the period from April 28 to May 5.
