Athletic, Sevilla and Villarreal launch their Europa League semi-final bids

LaLiga is still playing a leading role in Europe and, as is the case in the Champions League, three Spanish teams are among the Europa League's top eight, with the quarter-finals set to kick off this Thursday.

In Bilbao, Athletic Club receive the winners of the last two editions, Sevilla FC, in the first-leg of a tie which promises to be a thriller. This will be Athletic's second consecutive tie against a Spanish team in the tournament, after they knocked out Valencia CF in the previous round. However, despite the fact that Athletic and Sevilla have faced each other on 158 occasions in domestic competition, they have never played each other before in Europe.

Ernesto Valverde is without the injured Aymeric Laporte and Sabin Merino, whilst Unai Emery has travelled to Bilbao with 20 players and will have to cross two of them off his list before the game kicks off. The match is marked by Sevilla striker Fernando Llorente's return to Bilbao, who helped Athletic reach the final of the competition in the 2011/12 season.

Valverde "It's clear they are defending their wins of the last two years, they really know how to compete in the #UEL" #athlive

— Athletic Club (@Athletic_en) April 6, 2016

In the game at El Madrigal, Villarreal CF start the match as clear favourites, but they cannot afford to get complacent against AC Sparta Prague, who have not lost a single one of their 12 European matches this season. The Spanish outfit will attempt to make their continental experience and positive home record in this season's Europa League count, after winning all five of their European matches at El Madrigal this campaign without conceding a single goal.

The Yellow Submarine coach, Marcelino Garcia Toral, is without the injured Jonathan dos Santos, Mateo Musacchio and Daniele Bonera, with Antonio Rukavina also missing out through suspension. Despite his team's favourite status, Marcelino has warned of their opponents' potential: "Sparta are going to make things tough for us. We can't class this as an easy game, because if that were the case, they wouldn't be in the quarter-finals of a competition like the Europa League. We might be favourites, but we'll try not to fall into the trap of believing we're already through to the next round," he said.

#CVFEnglish | 18 players confirmed to face @ACSparta_CZ. #UEL #VILvACS https://t.co/W6mTm0n7qA pic.twitter.com/6HTXVu9Al7

— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) April 6, 2016

Borussia Dortmund v Liverpool FC and SC Braga v FC Shakhtar Donetsk are the other clashes which complete the quarter-finals, with the return legs scheduled to be played next Thursday.