By Can Erozden
ANKARA (AA) - Italian football club Juventus will meet the UEFA Europa League record holders Sevilla in the tournament's semifinal on Thursday.
Juventus are in a tough season in the Italian Serie A that was recently won by Napoli. The Turin club, who are now in the second spot in the Italian league, failed to win the Serie A title since 2020.
So Juve, who secured three UEFA Cups in 1977, 1990 and 1993, are eyeing a success in the European campaign.
Introduced in 1971, Europe's second-tier UEFA Cup was rebranded the Europa League in 2009.
Meanwhile, Sevilla from Spain have been much better in the Europa League than the Spanish La Liga.
Sevilla, who won their first and only La Liga title in 1946, secured a record six UEFA Cups/UEFA Europa Leagues in 2006, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2020.
The Seville club also won the 2006 UEFA Super Cup.
The Juventus vs. Sevilla clash at Turin's Allianz Stadium will start at 1900GMT.
In the other match of the night, Roma will face German opponents Bayer Leverkusen at home
The match at Rome's Olimpico will begin at 1900GMT as well.
Roma, who won the 2022 UEFA Europa Conference League title, have never claimed the Europa League title but played final in the 1991 UEFA Cup.
Leverkusen won the title once in 1988 when it was the UEFA Cup.
The second legs were scheduled to be held on May 18.
The winners of the each tie in the semis will qualify for the 2023 Europa League final on May 31.
This season's final will be played at Budapest's Puskas Arena that was opened in 2019 after it was revamped.
The stadium was named after Ferenc Puskas, who was a well-known Hungarian football legend and Real Madrid great, and UEFA confirms that it can host approximately 63,000 spectators.
The Puskas Arena previously hosted several UEFA EURO 2020 matches, and the 2020 UEFA Super Cup between Bayern Munich and Sevilla.