EUROPA LEAGUE: Three Super Eagles forwards fight on different fronts for spots in the final on Thursday

Super Eagles trio of Haruna Lookman, Nathan Tella, and Victor Boniface will all be on duty Thursday evening with their respective clubs in a quest for a place in the final of the 2024 Europa League.

Lookman and his Atalanta colleague host Olympique de Marseille, while Tella and Boniface and their Bayer Leverkusen colleagues host Roma.

After beating Roma 2-0 in the first leg, Leverkusen will look to book their spot in the Europa League final and maintain their unbeaten record on Thursday night when they face Roma in the second leg of their semi-final.

Xabi Alonso's side have already been crowned Bundesliga champions this season and find themselves in the DFB Pokal final without losing a single match.

They are still on course for a historic treble and boast a 2-0 lead from the first leg in Rome last week thanks to goals from Florian Wirtz and Robert Andrich.

Roma have seen a dramatic upturn in form since Jose Mourinho was replaced by Daniele De Rossi on the touchline, although they are now without a win in three matches.

They will have to do what no other team has managed this season and beat Leverkusen at the BayArena this Thursday, while also overturning a two-goal deficit.

Luck has often shone on Bayer Leverkusen this season and it appears to have done so once more ahead of their second leg against Roma, with Alonso having no major fitness concerns to contend with.

Leverkusen were able to rest some players during their 5-1 demolition of Eintracht Frankfurt at the weekend, with the likes of Wirtz and Alejandro Grimaldo given days off and Boniface and Jeremie Frimpong only used from the bench.

Meanwhile, Olympique de Marseille head coach Jean-Louis Gasset has explained what his players need to do to stop the red-hot Gianluca Scamacca during Thursday evening’s Europa League semi-final second leg against Atalanta.

The tie is currently level after the 1-1 draw at the Stade Velodrome last week.

Scamacca has now scored in each of his last five appearances, with four coming in Serie A against Salernitana, Hellas Verona, Cagliari, and Napoli, plus his opener after 11 minutes against Marseille last Thursday.

Gasset, who conducted his pre-match press conference on Wednesday evening, was asked specifically about the threat posed by Scamacca. He explained that his defenders will need to keep a particularly close eye on the Italy international due to his size and strength.

“We have faith in our defenders, but we must not give him the slightest bit of space,” Gasset told TMW.

“We have to watch him even more so than the others because he is strong, tall, and has lots of different qualities. We have to mark him closely, we can’t leave him any freedom.”

Speaking about Atalanta as a whole, Gasset said that he feels Gian Piero Gasperini’s side are the favourites heading into the return leg in Bergamo.

“I’m no statistician, but a team that draws away from home are the slight favourites. But, like we did against Benfica, we are ready to give everything to qualify.”