Who will succeed Atalanta in the history of the competition? In the Europa League too, eight teams remain to compete for the continent’s second most prestigious cup. The hopes of bringing the trophy back to Italy have been diminished following the elimination of Roma, who last Thursday, outnumbered from the 11th minute of the first half, were unable to avoid the comeback of Athletic Bilbao: at San Mamés, the stadium that will be the scene of the final in May, Ernesto Valverde’s men ended up winning 3-1.
In any case, all is not lost: the other team from Rome, Marco Baroni’s Lazio, is still in the running. After an amazing League Phase – no one did better than the Biancocelesti in the single-round phase of the competition, finishing on nineteen points level with Athletic – they want to continue to make their mark.
Lazio hadn’t reached a European quarter-final since 2018. They got there despite suffering more than expected in the last sixteen against the Czechs of Viktoria Plzen, beaten 2-1 in the first leg in the Czech Republic despite two players being sent off. It wasn’t easy at the Olimpico either, with Romagnoli and his teammates able to avoid extra time thanks to the captain’s goal fifteen minutes from the end that canceled out Sulc’s Czech lead (1-1). Lazio can also count on the favor of the odds in the next round: they will have to face the Norwegians of Bodo/Glimt, who are dangerous but on the whole within the reach of Baroni’s men.
Winning the Europa League 2025, Lazio second ahead of the English teams
In short, the Biancocelesti believe it. So does Opta’s Supercomputer, which sees Lazio as the second favorite to win the cup behind Athletic Bilbao. The odds of the Capitoline team winning a European trophy again after the golden years of Cragnotti’s management, at the turn of the 90s and 2000s, are 21.5%, while the Basques’ are 22.4%. If they reach the final, they’ll have the chance to play in front of their home crowd.
Behind them are the two English teams, Tottenham and Manchester United, who have therefore lost ground compared to the start of the season. This is certainly due to poor results in the Premier League: for both teams, winning the Europa League is currently the only way to avoid focusing solely on the league next year.
According to Opta’s forecasts, Spurs are ahead of Manchester United: 18.4% against 13.3%. Their quarter-final opponents, Eintracht Frankfurt (7.8%) and Lyon (10.9%), should not be underestimated either: neither of them seems to be starting from a position of weakness against the Londoners and the Red Devils. Finally, very, very slim chances for Bodo/Glimt and Rangers: the Norwegians (3.4%) are just ahead of the Scots (2.2%), who surprisingly knocked out José Mourinho’s Fenerbahçe in the round of 16.