PARIS — Juventus is theoretically only four matches away from a Europa League final date in its own Turin stadium. But the runaway Italian league leader is unlikely to go into Thursday's quarterfinal first leg away against French club Lyon taking anything for granted. That is especially the case after it suffered only its second league defeat in 31 matches at the hands of Napoli at the weekend. So Juve will be keen to make sure that 2-0 reverse does not signal the start of a slump. Coach Antonio Conte sounded a warning after the visit to Napoli when he said: "There are tired legs in my squad, that's inevitable when you've been playing every three days and are unable to rotate due to injuries." Having struggled to see off Italian rival Fiorentina in the previous round, with the indefatigable Andrea Pirlo scoring the only goal in the second leg for a 2-1 aggregate victory, Juve will nonetheless start as favorite to book its berth in the last four. "It's a difficult draw against Lyon, even if many people are already talking about Juventus in the final," said Pavel Nedved, the former Czech playmaker who is now on Juve's board. "We need to take it very seriously. No rival should be underestimated. We really are not thinking about playing in the final at home. We must focus on the quarter-finals." Lyon, one of three sides in the quarterfinals yet to win a major UEFA club trophy along with AZ Alkmaar of the Netherlands and Swiss club Basel, has never faced Juventus, its neighbor from across the Alps, before. It goes into the game on the back of a defeat, a 2-1 reverse at home to local rivals Saint-Etienne that effectively ended its chances of a top-three finish in Ligue 1 that brings with it qualification for next season's Champions League. It is also struggling with injuries just now, with fragile playmaker Yoann Gourcuff hurting an ankle at the weekend and fellow creative lynchpin Clement Grenier one of a host of others in the treatment room. Swiss champion Basel will have to play its first-leg clash against 2004 UEFA Cup winner Valencia behind closed doors after being punished for the violent behavior of its fans. UEFA also fined FC Basel 107,000 euros ($147,500) after objects, including cigarette lighters, were thrown on to the pitch in their last-16 clash against Salzburg, with the referee halting the game for 10 minutes. AZ takes on Benfica, last season's beaten finalists who saw off Tottenham Hotspur in the last round. The last Spanish representatives, Sevilla, travels to face 2011 winner Porto, which ended Napoli's interest in the competition with a 3-2 win on aggregate in the last round. The return legs are scheduled for April 10. Boavista back to top tier Former champions Boavista will return to an expanded 18-team Portuguese top flight next season, the league's governing body, the LPFP, announced Tuesday. The decision means only the bottom team in this season's 16-team top division will be relegated, with the top two sides in the second tier coming up. In addition, the third-placed team will go into a play-off against the 15th-placed club in the top flight to decide the final place in the expanded championship. The Oporto-based club, which plays in distinctive black and white checked shirts, was relegated to the second tier in 2008 due to financial difficulties following its involvement in a corruption scandal which also implicated FC Porto and Uniao Leiria. — Agencies
