Barcelona are Europa League favourites, but these three teams could deny Xavi his first piece of silverware as coach

Barcelona are back under Xavi Hernandez, or so it would appear, and the Europa League could well be the first piece of silverware they win under the Spaniard. They are three rounds and five matches away from winning Europe’s secondary competition, and given their rich vein of form, they could take some stopping.

Ad/> A 13-game unbeaten has Barcelona deemed the bookmakers' favourites for the Europa League, but they will not get it all their own way, and while they plan to overcome Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals this Thursday and next, there are other teams that look capable of troubling them if they were to advance… LigaStunning strike from Pedri seals Barcelona victory over Sevilla03/04/2022 AT 18:16 RB Leipzig Viewed as second favourites for Europa League glory, RB Leipzig appear to be peaking at the right time, and have climbed up from a lowly 12th in the Bundesliga to sit fourth heading into the final two months of the campaign. Domenico Tedesco has overseen that charge after replacing now Leeds manager Jesse Marsch in December, and since the start of January they have lost just once in the league – a narrow 3-2 loss at Bayern Munich.

Most recently they embarrassed Borrusia Dortmund in what was the Signal Iduna Park’s first capacity crowd for more than two years. Over 80,000 fans watched Dortmund lose 4-1 to Leipzig, who warmed up for their quarter-final first leg against Atalanta in perfect style.