Maresca would consider it a failure not to win
Chelsea v Djurgarden (Thu, 20:00 BST)
Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca thinks Chelsea, with all their financial advantages, need to win the Conference League this season.
Effectively, his side have avoided the only other team with anywhere near comparable resources in Fiorentina or Real Betis but one of the two will face Chelsea in the upcoming final in Wroclaw, Poland.
Maresca has previously won the Championship at Leicester in his short managerial career.
He also memorably won the Europa League twice in back-to-back season, beating Middlesbrough in the initial final, as well as winning the Super Cup during a glorious spell as a player at Spanish club Sevilla.
Bodo boss plays down defender's Spurs 'collapse' comments
Bodo/Glimt v Tottenham (Thu, 20:00 BST)
Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter at the Aspmyra Stadion
Bodo/Glimt head coach Kjetil Knutsen has dismissed fears defender Fredrik Sjovold has given Tottenham any extra edge.
The full-back criticised Spurs after the first leg of their Europa League semi-final last week - which Tottenham won 3-1 - and believes the hosts will be able to exploit the visitors, ahead of their second leg in Norway on Thursday.
"I think their pressure will collapse pretty quickly. Then we can cause trouble," Sjovold told the VG newspaper.
âIt is a very good team and they are good with the ball, but the pressure is no better than an okay Eliteserien team. It is possible to play it out.â
But, speaking in his pre-match press conference, Knutsen played down the comments.
He said: "That was an inexperienced player who didnât mean it like that. He probably felt what we wanted to do against teams who press like Tottenham, we should be doing better.
"Put that down to inexperience. Weâve not spoken about it but I trust the inner justice in the player group."
'Quiet confidence' in Bodo for club's 'biggest night'
Bodo/Glimt v Tottenham (Thu, 20:00 BST)
Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter at the Aspmyra Stadion
Hosts Bodo/Glimt usually have room for 20 in their press box at the Aspmyra Stadion but need to install 50 more seats and desks, such is the interest in the game 75 miles into the Arctic Circle.
Bodo are the defending Norwegian champions, having won the Tippeligaen in four of the last five years, and have beaten Twente, Lazio, Braga and Porto in the Europa League this season.
It is recognised their semi-final second leg with Tottenham is the biggest game in their history but the club does not need telling that, they are becoming used to big occasions - even if this is their first European semi-final.
Their Aspmyra Stadion may only hold just over 8,000, with a main stand built in 1966, and it is a world away from the stylish Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but it means there is a quiet confidence Bodo can overturn the two-goal first-leg deficit.
How a toasting a Tottenham win could 'hit the wallet hard'
Bodo/Glimt v Tottenham (Thu, 20:00 BST)
Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter at the Aspmyra Stadion
There's a growing atmosphere in Bodo, more and more yellow flags are appearing in the windows of the town's buildings.
They are braced for a big night against Tottenham on Thursday. On Tuesday the local sports bar was quiet, those who were in cheered Inter's extraordinary Champions League semi-final win over Barcelona.
Yet staff were warning that if any fans without a ticket for the Europa League semi-final second leg wanted a seat they would need to arrive six hours before kick off.
When Lazio's fans descended for their quarter-final first leg last month - which Bodo won 2-0 - the bar took almost 1m krone, just over £70,000, on the day of the game. Although at almost £10 a pint it will hit the wallet hard.
A tale of two Man Utds
Man Utd v Athletic Bilbao (Thu, 20:00 BST)
Manchester United
While Manchester United suffered yet another setback in the Premier League on Sunday, they are two games away from securing major silverware in Europe.
Ruben Amorim fielded United's joint-third youngest XI in Premier League history, with an average age of 22 years and 270 days, and fell to a 4-3 defeat at Brentford.
They remain 15th in the table with only 39 points from 35 matches and are winless in six league games.
But the Red Devils have enjoyed contrasting fortunes in the Europa League this season.
While they are 24 points off fifth place and Champions League qualification via the league, reaching Europe's top-tier club tournament is looking more and more likely through the Europa League.
Amorim's side are yet to suffer a defeat in the competition and overcame Real Sociedad and Lyon to reach the last four. They will now hope to confirm a title showdown with either Tottenham or Bodo/Glimt.
Man Utd's semi-final record
Man Utd v Athletic Bilbao (Thu, 20:00 BST)
Simon Stone
BBC Sport's chief football news reporter
Manchester United advancing from a European semi-final should not come as much surprise.
Dating back to 2008, this is United's seventh last-four clash.
They have only lost once, against Sevilla in the COVID-affected 2020 Europa League.
Only two of the previous five finals ended in victory though, against Chelsea in the 2008 Champions League final and Ajax in the 2017 Europa League final under Jose Mourinho.
Providing Ruben Amorim's side complete their job tomorrow, United will be reaching their first European final since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side were beaten on penalties by Unai Emery's Villarreal in the Europa League final in Gdansk in 2021.
'We can be worst team in Premier League history with a European title'
Man Utd v Athletic Bilbao (Thu, 20:00 BST)
Manchester United
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim looking back at his comments that this is the worst team in the club's history: "You have to see the quotes in the moment. Things can change. If you look at the Premier League, I think we are the worst [Manchester United] team in terms of results since I arrived. That is my idea.
"At the end of this season, we can be the worst team in Premier League history with a European title. So it will change nothing. We know this season was really disappointing for everybody. Nothing is going to change that.
"In that moment, sometimes I have to think a little bit more, but I felt that and I still feel that this season was the worst, I don't know in history, but maybe the last 15 years. I don't know."
Post
There was an underlying debate between readers throughout that news conference about the rights and wrongs of Europa League winners earning a Champions League place.
Ruben Amorim had his say there, acknowledging that he believed the champions or best teams in a league should play in the Champions League, but added that he was happy to follow the current rules, as they are.
We have one more line to bring you from Amorim on the club's current plight, and how a European title would not change that...
'Champions League should be for best teams in league'
Man Utd v Athletic Bilbao (Thu, 20:00 BST)
Manchester United
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim on Arsene Wenger's comments that Europa League winners should not qualify for Champions League: "I have nothing to say about that. I know the rules. If people want to change the rules, fine. But these are the rules. And the rule is that if you win the Europa League, you go to the Champions League. I don't think a lot about that.
"I know the Champions League should be for the teams that are champions or the best teams in the league. But they find these ways of promoting this competition, so we just follow the rule.
"So if we cannot go to Champions League with Premier League, we follow the rule and try to do that through Europa League."
'It's a final for us'
Man Utd v Athletic Bilbao (Thu, 20:00 BST)
Manchester United
More from Ruben Amorim on Manchester United's Europa League opponents Athletic Bilbao missing key players, including Nico Williams, Inaki WIlliams and Oihan Sancet, for the second leg of their semi-final: "For us, it doesn't matter. For us, it is the top team of Athletic Bilbao. I understand it is hard to play without key players. But for us, it doesn't matter.
"We need to go to the game - it's a final for us. So we need to go and try to win the game.
'Losing final as manager will hurt more'
Man Utd v Athletic Bilbao (Thu, 20:00 BST)
Manchester United
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim on the prospect of winning the Europa League after losing the 2013-14 final as a player with Benfica: "The meaning is different. As a player, you want to play and enjoy. But when you are manager, you have to win it. Losing the final will hurt even more, especially in this kind of season. So we have to win it.
"For that we need to focus on the semi-final. It's different between player and manager."
'We need to score to go to the final'
Man Utd v Athletic Bilbao (Thu, 20:00 BST)
Manchester United
More from Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim on Europa League semi-final second leg against Athletic Bilbao: "I watched the first 30 minutes [of the first leg] a lot of time and then forgot the rest. Because you cannot prepare for a game watching 11 against 10.
"I felt [Bilbao] were really intense in the first 30 minutes but most of the opportunities they had were a little bit our fault. We showed to the players that sometimes we might have 30 minutes with a lot of problems and tried to describe why we had so many problems in the first half hour."
On avoiding complacency: "If you look at our team, you cannot say what is going to happen today.
"There are some teams in any league that can understand that a game is going to be like this and they can control the narrative. We cannot do that. So we need to face the game as one more game.
"I think we need to score to go to the next round. That is clearly how we are going to face the game.
"We will also have to suffer a little bit to go to the final and be better in the small details."