4️⃣ big questions ahead of the Europa and Conference League semi-finals | OneFootball

Three more European semi-finals await us on Thursday evening with some huge questions lurking over the triumvirate of games.

Here's what to look out for on another massive night of continental action.

How can Roma beat the unbeatable?

It's the task that no side in Germany or Europe have been able to achieve yet in 2023/24.

Bayer Leverkusen - having failed to lose in 46 games so far and on course for a truly historic unbeaten treble - face Roma this evening for a place in the Europa League final.

Xabi Alonso's side have needed last minute winners and extraordinary mental fortitude to keep this stunning run going but last time out, in the first leg against the Serie A side, it was pretty much a precession.

Leverkusen went to the Eternal City and impressed from minute one with Florian Wirtz and Robert Andrich bagging the goals that secured a 2-0 win.

Now Roma travel to the BayArena needing a three-goal swing to secure their place in the final in Dublin at the end of the month.

It seems like an impossible task and, in truth, it probably is with Leverkusen having rested Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Victor Boniface for their 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt at the weekend.

Daniele De Rossi meanwhile is likely to welcome back Paulo Dybala, having brought the Argentina international off at half-time during their draw with Juventus last time.

Dybala will almost certainly partner Romelu Lukaku in attack and if the Giallorossi have any chance of getting to the final, those two will need to be at their clinical best.

Can Atalanta create history against Marseille?

Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini knows the importance of Thursday night's game.

La Dea's boss called tonight's Europa League semi-final second leg against Marseille "the most important game of my career" with the Serie A minnows on the verge of reaching their first ever major final.

The first leg was a relatively cagey 1-1 in the south of France with Atalanta taking the lead thanks to the in-form Gianluca Scamacca but conceding just a few minutes later with Chancel Mbemba's curled effort hitting the back of the net.

Coming away from Stade Velodrome with honours even was no bad thing for Atalanta though with the Bergamo club enjoying a fairly exemplary home record which they can fall back on this week.

Atalanta have lost twice in their previous 14 home games, with one of those being the 1-0 defeat to Liverpool in the quarter-finals - having virtually already secured their place in the last four from the match at Anfield.

Marseille meanwhile are on a bit of an away drought, having won just one of their previous 10 games on the road.

Even that victory comes with caveats though as those three points came at Ligue 1's bottom side Clermont.

In truth then, this should be a home banker for Atalanta with history beckoning.

Will Aston Villa's Greek odyssey end in tragedy?

It's fair to say that most fans - at least those outside Greece - were stunned by last Thursday's clash at Villa Park.

Champions League-chasing Aston Villa, so impressive all season in the Premier League, hosted Olympiacos with one eye already on the final in Athens.

But without goalkeeper Emi Martínez, Villa were on the back foot from the beginning with the Grecian giants eventually winning 4-2 thanks to Ayoub El Kaabi's stunning hat-trick.

Coach Unai Emery admitted after the defeat that his side "didn't have control" and in the pre-mach press conference on Wednesday conceded that this game is now "the biggest of the season".

Olympiacos hold all the cards though with the Pireas outfit having won their last four home games and having scored 28 goals in their previous 10 matches.

There is some hope for Villa though with Olympiacos having kept just two clean sheets since February.

Goals look like being the order of the day but whatever happens, it's going to be an absolutely fascinating encounter.

Is this the year Fiorentina finally prosper in Europe?

For such a storied club, Fiorentina's history in Europe is a fairly short one.

La Viola were one of Italy's strongest sides in the late 1950s and early 60s, reaching the European Cup final in 1957 and four years later winning the Cup Winners' Cup.

But since then it's been a series of near misses and maybes for the Tuscan giants.

Fiorentina thought they had banished those ghosts last season when they reached the Conference League final in Prague against West Ham.

But a late Jarrod Bowen goal broken Viola hearts and sent Vincenzo Italiano's men in a tailspin.

Now though, Fiorentina have the chance to make amends just 12 months later having squeezed past Club Brugge in Wednesday's semi-final.

The Belgian outfit took the lead early on through Hans Vanaken but Fiorentina responded and really should have equalised sooner were it not for some wayward finishing.

They got their equaliser though, right at the death as Lucas Beltrán netted a penalty that saw Fiorentina beat Brugge 4-3 on aggregate.

A trip to Athens waits with the Italians desperate not to make it two final losses in two consecutive years.