There's one way to find out if a team deserves to win the Europa League. Play Sevilla.
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Manchester United take on the ultimate Europa League experts on Sunday when they face five-time champions Sevilla in the semi-finals.
Every time Sevilla have got to the quarter-final stage they've gone on to win the competition, and Sevilla have never lost a Europa League game to an English club.
United midfielder Nemanja Matic believes mental strength will be key in Cologne.
"We're in good condition. Of course, the season was long but we knew it before, what we can expect. And the most important now is mentally to be ready," Matic said after the quarter-final win over Copenhagen.
"I think that mental point will decide (the) semi-final and final."
Semi-finals have been a problem for United. Manchester City knocked United out of the EFL Cup at the semi-final stage in January and Chelsea did the same in the FA Cup last month.
United finished the Premier League season in style but need to replicate that form on the European stage.
Against Copenhagen, Europa League top scorer Bruno Fernandes eventually won the game 1-0 with a penalty, but only after the Danish club had forced United to extra time - more physical strain in the longest of seasons.
Sevilla narrowly avoided extra time in their 1-0 win over Wolves thanks to Lucas Ocampos' winning goal in the 88th minute. Sevilla are unbeaten in 19 games in all competitions and coach Julen Lopetegui says the players are fired up.
"(United) are obviously a top team with great strength, but these are the semi-finals of the Europa League, and the only thing that will help us through any difficulty or situation that we come across at this high level is ambition, excitement and the desire to compete," Lopetegui said.
Inter Milan's semi-final opponents, Shakhtar Donetsk, haven't played a real home game in more than six years.
Their home city is Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, which has been under the control of Russia-backed separatists since 2014. The club has used various stadiums across Ukraine ever since for league and European games.
One thing hasn't changed, though. Just as in 2009, when Shakhtar won the Europa League with a squad including future English Premier League stars Willian and Fernandinho, they still build their team around Brazil-born players.
All four of their goalscorers in the 4-1 win over Basel in the quarter-finals were Brazilian-born. The naturalised Ukrainian Junior Moraes got Shakhtar started with a second-minute header before Taison, Alan Patrick and Dodo completed the job.
"I'm feeling amazing," Moraes said. "We trust we can go until the final but every game is very hard ... but if you want to improve yourself, you must play against these teams."
Getting to the final will mean defeating Inter and in-form forward Romelu Lukaku when the teams meet Monday in Dusseldorf.
Australian Associated Press