Real Madrid looks to speed up Coentrão deal

Real Madrid will finalise a deal with Benfica for left-back Fabio Coentrao in the next few days, Spanish news daily Marca claims.

The Spanish giants have been strongly linked with Coentrao since the end of last season, with the player himself making no secret of his wish to work under compatriot Jose Mourinho.

Europe League: Benfica v Braga Preview

Benfica have spent much of this season living in the shadow of Porto, but for all their failings in the Premeira Liga know that Europa League success will just about appease their discontented support.

The Eagles secured a third successive Portuguese League Cup on Saturday, beating minnows Pacos de Ferreriera 2-1 at the Estadio Cidade de Coimbra, but the celebrations were muted to say the least.

Braga hold off Dynamo Kyiv to book all-Portuguese semi-final

Sporting Braga capped a historic night for Portugal in the Europa League as all three Primeira Liga teams went through to the semi-finals. Starting the night level after a 1-1 draw away to Dynamo Kyiv last week, Braga survived the 28th-minute dismissal of Paulo César to earn a goalless draw which saw them through on away goals.

Porto face Falcao dilemma in Europa League

Porto face a growing Europa League dilemma over their Colombian striker Radamel Falcao as the more goals he scores, the harder it will be for the Portuguese champions to hang on to him at the end of the season.

Falcao, whose price tag seems to go up with every goal, notched a hat-trick as last week's 5-1 quarter-final first leg win over Spartak Moscow virtually guaranteed Porto a place in the last four, provided they avoid disaster in Thursday's return in Russia.

The official website for European football Portugal's finest chase UEFA Europa League dream

The 2010/11 UEFA Europa League could have an all-Portuguese semi-final, and indeed final, with Villarreal CF the only side from Europe's top leagues featuring in the quarter-finals.

An all-Portuguese semi-final, and indeed final, remains a possibility as the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals begin, with Spain the only so-called big five league represented in the last eight.