Most important Europa League matches are here. Tonight at 21:45, the French team "Marseille" and the Spanish representative Madrid's "Atletico" will step into the big final.
It is the third final in European tournaments for "Atletico" team in the last five years. The Madrid team lost in the Champions League finals in 2014 and 2016, but triumphed in the Europa League in 2012.
Meanwhile, "Marseille" has a completely different history. The French team last played in a European tournament final in 2004 when they lost in the UEFA Cup final.
Path to the final
"Marseille" team entered Group I of the Europa League. Here, the French team took second place, only behind Austria's "Red Bull" players. In the next stage, "Marseille" defeated "Braga" footballers with an overall result of 3:1 and advanced to the quarterfinals.
There, the "Marseille" team faced a Spanish team. "Athletic Bilbao" was defeated with an overall result of 5:2. The French team had to work harder in the quarterfinals. They lost the first match to "RB Leipzig" 0:1, but won the second leg 5:2.
In the semifinals, "Marseille" met the Salzburg team they already saw in the group stage. The French team won the first match 2:0, but lost the second one 1:2. However, that was enough for them to reach the final.
Meanwhile, "Atletico" team entered the Europa League after falling out from the Champions League. In the first stage, Spaniards defeated "Copenhagen" with an overall result of 5:1, and in the quarterfinals, they crushed Moscow's "Lokomotiv" 8:1.
In the quarterfinals, the Madrid team defeated Sporting 2:0 in the first match, but then lost 0:1. However, this did not stop them from reaching the semifinals, where they clashed with London's "Arsenal". Atletico played the first match against Arsenal with a draw 1:1, but won at home 1:0 and entered the final.
Teams' results
Recently, the "Marseille" team has not been showing exceptional athletic form. In the last four matches, they only achieved one victory. At the end of April, "Marseille" played a draw 1:1 with "Angers" and a few days later lost 1:2 to "Red Bull".
Returning to the "Ligue 1" championship, "Marseille" beat "Nice" 2:1 but drew 3:3 with "Guingamp" last weekend.
Meanwhile, "Atletico" celebrated three victories in the last four matches. The Madrid team defeated "Alaves" 1:0 and a few days later also triumphed over "Arsenal" with the same result. Later, they lost 0:2 to "Espanyol" but last weekend defeated "Getafe" players 1:0.
Teams' news
For the "Atletico" team, Filipe Luis is not expected to play in these matches, and there are doubts about Lucas Hernandez playing from the first minute. The head coach of the Madrid team, Diego Simeone, will have to watch the match from the stands since UEFA decided not to lift his suspension before the final.
Dimitri Payet should be ready to play in the "Marseille" team, although he missed the weekend's match in the domestic championship. Defender Bouna Sarr has shoulder problems, but it is expected that he will be ready for the match. If B. Sarr does not play, H. Sakai is expected to take his place.
Predicted line-ups
"Marseille": Pele, Sarr, Rami, Gustavo, Amavi, Lopez, Sanson, Thauvin, Ocampos, Payet, Germain
"Atletico": Oblak, Juanfran, Godin, Savic, Luis, Correa, Gabi, Saul, Koke, Costa, Griezmann
Interesting facts
These will be the first matches between the teams in European tournaments since the 2008-09 season. At that time, the Spanish team won in the Champions League group stage matches, and in other matches, the teams shared points.
For the "Marseille" team, this will be the third UEFA Cup/Europa League final. They are still looking for their first victory in the final. In 1998-99, the French team lost to "Parma" players, and in 2003-04, they stumbled against "Valencia".
The "Marseille" team is aiming to be the first French team to win the major European tournament since the 1995-96 season when PSG triumphed in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
This will be the first final between Spanish and French clubs since the 2003-04 season when "Valencia" defeated the same "Marseille" team.
Diego Simeone will be in his fourth final since taking over the leadership of "Atletico" team. The Argentine lost both Champions League finals but won the Europa League.
The last time a Spanish team reached the final of the major European tournament, only one of them lost. It was the "Athletic" team in 2012, who stumbled against the same "Atletico".
In case of victory, "Atletico" would equal the "Sevilla" team, which has the most Europa League trophies (three).
The "Marseille" team has only won 4 matches out of the last 15 when playing against Spanish teams in European tournaments.
