Napoli coach Rafa Benitez is confident his side can overcome Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk on Thursday night and reach the final of the Europa League.
The Italians travel to Kiev’s Olympic stadium needing to score after Yevhen Seleznyov’s late equaliser handed Dnipro a precious away goal in last week’s 1-1 draw in the opening leg in Naples.
“We can go there and win,” Benitez said on his club’s website. “I am optimistic because we have the potential to get to the final.
“I expect a defensive game from Dnipro, but I don’t think they can afford to risk just closing themselves down. We will go out on the pitch with the same mentality we always have.
“I believe if we play the way we did in the first leg and if we display the same fighting spirit and determination we showed last week, we can progress.”
Dnipro, looking to reach their first major European final, have shown no signs of weakness at home this season.
They have won their past four European home games without conceding a goal and will have a crowd of 70,000 fans cheering them on at the stadium.
“This is a historic game for us and we are well aware of it,” Dnipro coach Myron Markevych told the Ukrainian press. “We have to play our game and show our quality.
“Napoli is not an easy opponent and we expect a very difficult game. We need to have more possession than we did in Naples.”
Napoli, fourth in Serie A following Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Parma, have not reached the final since they won the Uefa Cup in the 1988/89 campaign.
They lost 3-1 at Dnipro in the group stages of the Europa League three years ago but are unbeaten in their past four away games in the competition.
Markevych rested some players in Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at home that dropped his side to third place in the Ukrainian Premier League, nine points adrift of league leaders Dynamo Kiev.
Argentine forward Gonzalo Higuain, who is the top scorer left in the competition with seven goals, will lead Napoli’s attack with team captain Marek Hamsik playing in support in what will be his 50th European competition appearance.
The hosts are without Pavel Ksenz, Papa Gueye, Dmytro Chygrynskiy and Evgen Shakhov, who are all sidelined through injury.
In the other semi-final, holders Sevilla are on the brink of a return to the Europa League final as they take a 3-0 lead to Italy for the second leg against Fiorentina.
It would take a remarkable turnaround in Florence for Unai Emery’s side to miss out on reaching the final again as they look to retain the trophy they won by defeating Benfica on penalties in Turin 12 months ago.
Two goals by Aleix Vidal and a Kevin Gameiro strike last week have the Spanish side in control, and Sevilla are a team in form, too, having lost just once in 18 games in all competitions.
Fiorentina, who are fifth in Serie A, must do what they have never done in Europe to overturn a 3-0 first-leg deficit if they hope to keep alive their chances of reaching the final in Warsaw and winning a European trophy for the first time since the 1961 Cup Winners’ Cup.
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What should do investors do now?
What does the S&P 500's new all-time high mean for the average investor?
Should I be euphoric?
No. It's fine to be pleased about hearty returns on your investments. But it's not a good idea to tie your emotions closely to the ups and downs of the stock market. You'll get tired fast. This market moment comes on the heels of last year's nosedive. And it's not the first or last time the stock market will make a dramatic move.
So what happened?
It's more about what happened last year. Many of the concerns that triggered that plunge towards the end of last have largely been quelled. The US and China are slowly moving toward a trade agreement. The Federal Reserve has indicated it likely will not raise rates at all in 2019 after seven recent increases. And those changes, along with some strong earnings reports and broader healthy economic indicators, have fueled some optimism in stock markets.
"The panic in the fourth quarter was based mostly on fears," says Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist for Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. "The fundamentals have mostly held up, while the fears have gone away and the fears were based mostly on emotion."
Should I buy? Should I sell?
Maybe. It depends on what your long-term investment plan is. The best advice is usually the same no matter the day — determine your financial goals, make a plan to reach them and stick to it.
"I would encourage (investors) not to overreact to highs, just as I would encourage them not to overreact to the lows of December," Mr Schutte says.
All the same, there are some situations in which you should consider taking action. If you think you can't live through another low like last year, the time to get out is now. If the balance of assets in your portfolio is out of whack thanks to the rise of the stock market, make adjustments. And if you need your money in the next five to 10 years, it shouldn't be in stocks anyhow. But for most people, it's also a good time to just leave things be.
Resist the urge to abandon the diversification of your portfolio, Mr Schutte cautions. It may be tempting to shed other investments that aren't performing as well, such as some international stocks, but diversification is designed to help steady your performance over time.
Will the rally last?
No one knows for sure. But David Bailin, chief investment officer at Citi Private Bank, expects the US market could move up 5 per cent to 7 per cent more over the next nine to 12 months, provided the Fed doesn't raise rates and earnings growth exceeds current expectations. We are in a late cycle market, a period when US equities have historically done very well, but volatility also rises, he says.
"This phase can last six months to several years, but it's important clients remain invested and not try to prematurely position for a contraction of the market," Mr Bailin says. "Doing so would risk missing out on important portfolio returns."
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