European round-up: Athletic Club and Real Betis qualify for semi-finals

Athletic Club and Real Betis have concluded their quarter-finals ties in the Europa League and UEFA Conference League respectively, as both have been able to keep alive their hopes of achieving continental glory this season.

Athletic Club 2-0 Rangers (2-0 on aggregate)

Athletic Club have kept alive their hopes of playing the Europa League final at home after seeing off Rangers in the second leg of their quarter-final tie. Ernesto Valverde’s side dominated the opening 45 minutes, but they had to wait until stoppage time to break the deadlock, which they did when Oihan Sancet scored from the penalty spot.

Athletic kept pushing in the second half as they looked to out the tie to bed, and they did just that in the 80th minute when Nico Williams, who has once again been linked with a summer move in recent days, continued his stellar form with another goal. The result means that Los Leones will face either Manchester United or Lyon in the Europa League semi-finals, with their quarter-final tie having gone to extra time.

Jagiellonia Bialystok 1-1 Real Betis (1-3 on aggregate)

Real Betis have made it into the UEFA Conference League semi-finals after keeping Jagiellonia Bialystok at arm’s length in their second leg in Poland. The hosts pushed hard for a first half goal, but it did not come – they thought they had it just before the interval when they found the back of the net, but after a VAR check, it was ruled out for offside.

In the 78th minute, Betis made their progression all-but safe when Cedric Bakambu scored his seventh UEFA Conference League goal of the season, although Jagiellonia did manage to find an equaliser within 120 seconds as Darko Churlinov fired the ball past Los Verdiblancos goalkeeper Fran Vieites.

Betis saw it out from there, and their reward for progression is a semi-final tie against Serie A side Fiorentina.