EUROPA LEAGUE
What happens if the two teams tie in the Europa League semi-final game?
The Europa League semi-finals hang in the balance, but what happens if the games end with no clear winner?
Soccer never stops and the Europa League semi-final second legs take centre stage as the continental action continues on Thursday. Sevilla host Juventus after the teams played out a 1-1 draw in Turin last week, while AS Roma travel to Bayer Leverkusen looking to finish the job after a slender 1-0 win at Stadio Olimpico. There was little to choose between the teams in the first leg and things could well remain tight in the returns.
Like the Champions League, these ties are split over two legs: one home and one away. That means that the overall score counts and not just the result in the first game. For a more detailed description of how things work, check out the explainer below.
Are there extra-time and penalties in the Europa League semi-finals?
The first leg is played like a normal game of football: there are 90 minutes plus whatever additional time the referee sees fit to add, depending on what stoppages we see in play. The game, even if the scores are level after full-time, ends there and we move to the second leg the following week.
For the second leg, which takes place in the other team’s ground, things are a little different. The game runs like normal for 90 minutes or so, but if the two teams still can’t be separated after that, then the referee finishes the game and we go to extra-time. There is no away goals rule anymore, so the overall score counts and not the ground in which the team scored them.
How do extra-time and penalties work in the Europa League?
Two halves of fifteen minutes each are played to see if any team can grab a late goal and if we don’t see a result after the total of 120 minutes, the game finishes and we move to a penalty shootout. This is where 5 players from each team have the chance to take a penalty and the best out of five wins. If the scores are also level after this, the penalties move to sudden death, meaning that the first team to miss after the other team scores is out.
