UEFA Europa League 2010-2011: How Iberia Conquered Europe

We are now set to begin the semi final round of the second edition of the UEFA Europa League since it changed it's name.

All four teams that have made it this far have one thing in common, they are from the Iberian Peninsula, which consist mainly of Spain, Portugal and Andorra.

All four teams have made the journey in a different way. Here's a brief explanation of their way to the semi finals as well as my predictions.

SC Braga: Surprising Everyone

They started in the third qualifying round of the Champions League and eliminated Scottish powerhouse Celtic Glasgow with an aggregate score of 4-2.

In the play off round they surprised everybody again by eliminating two time UEFA Cup winners Sevilla, winning both games to an aggregate score of 5-3.

With that they secured a spot in the Group Stage of the Champions League. They had a rough start, losing their first to matches and unable to score in any of them but they were able to make a bit of a comeback by winning both matches they had against Partizan.

Then they went on to surprise everybody again winning in their game against Arsenal before losing the last game of the stage.

They couldn't go further in the Champions League, but continued in Europe as the third ranked in their group, which meant they could play in the Europa League.

They entered the tournament in the round of 32 and lost their first match, but were able to outscore their opponents and advance into the next round.

Liverpool was their next rival. Their defense won this round as Liverpool was unable to score in either game. They only needed one goal at home to eliminate the Englishmen.

Dynamo Kiev was the last step before the semi finals, and even though no match had a winner, Braga was able to score in Ukraine and advance on away goals.

They will play against fellow Portuguese team Benfica, guaranteeing that at least one of the finalists will be from that country.

SL Benfica: Looking for Past Glory

They qualified for the Champions Legue group stage as the Portuguese Champions, but were only able to win two matches, one against Olympique Lyon and another against Happoel Tel Aviv. They almost finished last in their group, but they ended up being third by one point.

They entered the Europa League in the round of 32 and have yet to be defeated in the tournament. They won both games against Stuttgart in said round.

In the round of 16 they won at home and tied in Paris against PSG to an aggregate of 3-2, which let them alive in the competition.

The quarter final round was like a dejà vu, as they did exactly the same they did in the previous round, but with different scores, they won their home game 4-1 and tied (2-2) in Holland. With this PSV was sent packing.

They are now set to play against Braga. A Portuguese team will play in the final, as well as one that started the season in the Champions Legue.

FC Porto: Mourinho 2.0

Porto qualified directly for the UEFA Europa Cup and eliminated Genk in the playoffs to secure a spot in the group stage.

Under the direction of Villas Boas, who has learned under Mourinho's wing, the team run through all opponents in the group only conceding a draw to Besiktas and winning all other matches.

The round of 32 saw their first defeat and a tie in the aggregate score (2-2) but they ruled over Sevilla on away goals.

For the next two rounds they were matched up with Moscow teams, beating CSKA in the round of 16 (aggregate of 3-1). Before completely destroying Spartak, scoring 5 goals per match against them (aggregate of 10-3).

Their next opponent is closer to home as they only need to go across one border.

Villareal CF: Like Sweden in 1992

Mallorca was originally to participate in the tournament, but they were not granted a license because of debts.

This gave Villareal an opportunity to enter the Europa League, much like Sweden was invited to participate in the 1992 Euro Cup.

They faced Dnper in the play offs, winning the first match easily and also winning the second, which they regarded as a pre season friendly (aggregate of 7-1).

They had up and downs in the group stage, but were able to finish in it in the first place of their group, even if they ended just one point ahead of PAOK.

Napoli was their match up for the round of 32. Neither team was able to score in Italy. On the second game Villareal was able to make a come from behind victory to advance.

In the round of 16 they played against Bayer Leverkusen, winning both matches by one goal (aggregate of 5-3).

They went to Holland to face Twente. They outscored the dutch by four goals in Spain and by two in the Netherlands only letting their opponents to score once in each game (aggregate of 8-2).

In 1992 Sweden was invited to the Euro. They took advantage of the opportunity, winning the tournament to everybody's surprise. The Spaniards have to go head to head against Portuguese teams thrice to be able to imitate them.

Semi Final Predictions

SC Braga vs SL Benfica

Benfica has more history and more trophies and should be the winner, but Braga has been a wild card from the start, upsetting multiple theoretically better teams.

I'm still going with the logical winner, Benfica.

FC Porto vs Villareal FC

Two great teams set to face each other. Both matches should be interesting. Probably low scoring with the possibility of overtime in the second game, as both teams are almost evenly matched.

Both teams have options to go to the final, but I'll give Villareal a slight advantage, as they play in a more difficult league.

And the Winner Is

The final match of the tournament is to be played in the Lansdowne Road stadium in Dublin, Ireland, on May 18th.

My prediction for the final match is SL Benfica vs Villareal FC. 

And even though Benfica is a good team, I'd give the Spaniards the edge in this match up.