The Great Andalusians

It is a pity that most talk about the Europa League final was about, and continues to be, about Liverpool. Because lets face it: number 8 in the Premier League proved to be far below the level of number 7 in La Liga (and this does prevent me from saying that I much prefer to watch the Premier League). Although Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp may have a plan for the future, the final proved that there is still a long way to go, and that much of the material inherited from the hapless Brendan Rogers is not up to the level of Klopp: Moreno, Lovren, Lallana, Firmino, Sturridge (despite his fantastic goal, but it was the only thing he did the entire match); none of this were really up to standard of a European final. And Mignolet is not a class goalkeeper.
I know many Liverpool fans will not like this, but it must be said that if Liverpool is to achieve what Klopp wants, they have to overhaul half the players.

Sevilla has made history: third consecutive Europa League victory, and fifth over the last 11 years. While many (in particular in England) may look down at the Europa League, this is an incredible achievement for a team that has no chance of winning anything in the domestic league, and largely have players that were discarded from other teams, but whose quality cannot be questioned from yesterday's incredible second half performance (although Liverpool were pathetically bad, in my view, it was largely Sevilla who were good): Ever Banega, Coke and Vitolo were all spectacular (all showed a level Liverpool players are far from achieving), and Carrico, Escudero and N'Zonzi all showed high class.
But most credit should go to Sevilla manager Unai Emery. The Spaniard spent four years in Valencia and then a short spell in Spartak Moscow, two clubs that are very hard on managers. In Sevilla since 2013 he has found glory and the respect he deserves. Not only is he an avid tactician (something that has often been overlooked), but he must also have great man management skills as he managed to lift Sevilla to their second half performance in half time, when they were down 0-1.
I have no doubt that Unai Emery is one of the most overseen managers in Europe.

I have never been a big fan of Sevilla, but of course this achievement is worth a big congratulations!

European semi-finals

The quarterfinals of the Champions League and Europa League were great, and we now have the semi-finals draws.
In the Champions league:

• Real Madrid-Manchester City: Real Madrid's giants made it through thanks to an incredible Cristiano Ronaldo, but do not look unbeatable, so Manchester City's semi-final debutants surely have a chance. To beat Paris St. Germain they were organized and intelligent, and not least had a fantastic Kevin DeBruyne. The League title seems lost for both sides, who are bound to put everything into the Champions League.
• Atletico Madrid-Bayern Munich: Atletico Madrid eliminated the defending champions, mighty FC Barcelona, playing their typical committed, physical and tactically intelligent football. They should have good chances against a Bayern Munich side that plays similar type of football as Barcelona, but who are at the same time much more cool-headed and a has more complete tactical variations than the Catalans.  

In the Europa League:

• Liverpool-Villarreal: Liverpool are in the semifinals after a thrilling quarterfinal contest with Borussia Dortmund. Villarreal are there after defeating a strong Sparta Prague side in two matches. In terms of next season's CL, Liverpool are unlikely to be there, while Villarreal are almost ensured at least qualifiers being 4th in the Spanish League. Be sure though that both teams will fight for this title, and I think this could be one of the most entertaining matches among the semi-finals.
• Shakhtar Donetsk-Sevilla: Sevilla are the defending champions and most winning side in the Europa League, has won the last two, but had to struggle to get there on penalties against Athletic Bilbao. They should nevertheless probably be favourites in this match. That said, Shakhtar Donetsk won the competition in 2009 and swept aside Braga to make it to the semifinals. Both teams qualified to the Europa League through the Champions League, and will be looking for Champions League next year: Sevilla are very unlikely to make it next season, while Shakhtar Donetsk are in comfortable second spot in the Ukranian league, almost sure to get CL qualifiers next season.

Two winning teams

Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund are both teams I really like without being a fan; they have fantastic fans, a great history, and play great football.
So I had big expectations to tonight's Europa League Quarterfinal second leg in Liverpool, and these expectations were lived up to in excess.
In an incredible atmosphere both teams played fantastic football (although one cynic may criticize their defenses for giving too much space) and gave any fan of good football an unforgettable experience. It all seemed over when Dortmund went ahead 0-2, and then 1-3 at the start of the second half. But never underestimate Liverpool, who must be World Champions in Memorable Comebacks (remember against Alaves in 2001 and against AC Milan in 2005...?): first Coutinho scored 2-3, then Mamadou Sakho made it 3-3, and in the 91st minute Dejan Lovren scored the 4-3 winner (even though Dortmund even managed a good chance for 4-4 in the last minute).
One can only feel sorry for Borussia Dortmund, but there are indeed matches with two winners, and this was certainly one of them.
Liverpool is now in the semifinal of the Europa League.

Manchester United's new star

Just a week a go I had never heard about Marcus Rashford. The 18-year old got his debut in Manchester United's first team in this week Europa League match against FC Midtjylland. In that match he scored two goals, becoming Manchester United's youngest player to score in European matches, and led Manchester United's 5-1 comeback.
Today the young Rashford started in his Premier League debut against title contenders Arsenal, and again scored two goals in Manchester United's well-deserved 3-2 victory against an Arsenal side that is no longer likely to contend the title.
After a long period of poor performance the success of young Rashford comes at the right time for coach Louis Van Gaal, whose job has and surely continues to be on the line. However, no matter what, as a football fan, it is great to see a new young player take up his debut with such storm, and it will be great to follow his future career.