Quarter-final second-leg facts and figures
Friday, April 24, 2015
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A notable Italian first, a breakthrough for Ukraine and a competition record for Sevilla FC's Daniel Carriço got Mike Hammond's pulse racing as he analysed last night's stats.
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• Quarter-final victories for ACF Fiorentina and SSC Napoli mean that there are two Italian clubs through to the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League for the first time. The only previous Serie A side to reach the last four was Juventus, in 2013/14. There has never been an Italian team in the final.
• FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk's qualification has given Ukraine a first UEFA Europa League semi-finalist. Eight countries have now been represented in the competition's last four over its six seasons.
• Holders Sevilla FC have emulated SL Benfica's previously unique feat of getting to the UEFA Europa League semi-finals in successive campaigns, the Portuguese outfit having achieved back-to-back qualifications in 2012/13 and 2013/14.
• Sevilla are the third Spanish club to reach the semi-finals twice – after Club Atlético de Madrid (2009/10 & 2011/12) and Valencia CF (2011/12 & 2013/14). Benfica are the sole side with more than two qualifications, having made it through to the last four on three occasions.
• By clinching their qualification in Russia, Sevilla became the only one of the eight semi-final qualifiers in the past two seasons to have done so away from home.
• With their 2-2 draw in St Petersburg, Sevilla also became the first team to deny FC Zenit victory on home turf in the competition in ten attempts. It was also the Russian club's first draw in 20 UEFA Europa League matches home and away.
• Daniel Carriço, the Sevilla defender, set a new record for UEFA Europa League appearances with his 45th outing in the 2-2 draw at Zenit. He has played 19 times for Sevilla and 26 for Sporting Clube de Portugal.
• Zenit striker José Rondón registered his tenth UEFA Europa League goal against Sevilla, becoming the 20th scorer in the competition to achieve double figures.
• FC Dynamo Kyiv and Club Brugge KV both played their 40th UEFA Europa League game in the second leg of the quarter-finals. Just PSV Eindhoven (50 matches) have appeared in the competition more often.
• The red card shown to Dynamo Kyiv winger Jeremain Lens in the 2-0 defeat at Fiorentina means that the Ukrainian side have now had more players sent off in the competition than any other club – nine in total.