What to look out for in the UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final second legs

There is no more than a goal in it ahead of the four UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final second legs, with Aston Villa, Olympiacos and Club Brugge defending narrow advantages and Fiorentina vs Plzeň still goalless.

In this piece presented by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, we pick out some key talking points ahead of the second legs on Thursday 18 April. Remember: Every mission matters.

LOSC Lille vs Aston Villa (18:45 CET)
Fiorentina vs Viktoria Plzeň (18:45 CET)
Fenerbahçe vs Olympiacos (21:00 CET)
PAOK vs Club Brugge (21:00 CET)

What to look out for

Lille vs Villa on a knife-edge
"We created chances, we conceded some chances," Unai Emery said after Aston Villa's 2-1 win at home to Lille. "We have to try to be stronger in our structure because they were sometimes threatening us more than we wanted." That is perhaps putting it mildly after a ding-dong battle in Birmingham, where momentum swung wildly between two evenly matched sides.

Villa were indebted to Emiliano Martínez for restricting the visitors to a late goal that brought Lille right back into the contest. The French outfit are 15 games unbeaten at home and have the benefit of a weekend off, but they will need to find a way of keeping 25-goal Ollie Watkins quiet after failing to properly heed Paulo Fonseca's warnings about "one of the best in Europe right now" in the first leg.

Plzeň block Fiorentina's path
It is now 669 minutes since Plzeň last conceded a Conference League goal, a run of seven clean sheets dating all the way back to 5 October. The seventh was the most impressive yet, restricting last season's runners-up Fiorentina to very few clear-cut chances despite a host of injuries and suspensions. "Scoring against a team that defends like that is difficult," said Viola boss Vincenzo Italiano.

Plzeň had even fewer opportunities in their third successive goalless draw in the competition. Having edged out Swiss side Servette on penalties in the last 16, they could become the first team to contest shoot-outs in back-to-back Conference League ties. Not if Fiorentina's Czech midfielder Antonín Barák can help it, though: "I think the second leg will be more of the same. We must push more and, with our fans behind us, I think we can qualify."

Fenerbahçe and Olympiacos set to fight fire with fire
There was no problem finding the net in Piraeus during the first leg as Olympiacos vs Fenerbahçe delivered on its promise of excitement and more. The Greek side were scintillating for the first hour, opening up a 3-0 lead that would have left some teams hearing the death knells. Not so, Fenerbahçe. Coach İsmail Kartal shuffled his pack, went all in and was rewarded with two goals that leave the tie delicately poised.

"We didn't throw in the towel," said Kartal. "We took risks and could have even made it 3-3 in the end. Hopefully, we can secure our qualification in front of our fans in Istanbul." Fenerbahçe have lost just twice at the Şükrü Saracoğlu all season, and one of those defeats came in the last 16, when they already led 3-0 from their first leg against Union SG. "We have a fight on our hands," said Olympiacos boss José Luis Mendilibar.

PAOK out to punish profligate Club Brugge
It was 93 minutes before PAOK mustered an attempt on target against Club Brugge in the first leg, and even then Kiril Despodov's free-kick didn't cause undue alarm. Yet for all the Belgian side's dominance and chances, they have only Hugo Vetlesen's early goal to show for it. "We won, but we should have scored more. We had enough chances," said winger Michał Skóraś.

Club Brugge boss Nicky Hayen has already promised that his players will not attempt to sit on their lead – having seen PAOK dismantle Dinamo Zagreb in the last 16 to comprehensively overturn a 2-0 first-leg defeat, they are perhaps wise not to. Added to that, the visitors will travel to Greece without suspended trio Igor Thiago, Maxim De Cuyper and Brandon Mechele, so PAOK will sense a real opportunity.