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• McGinn focusing on 'astronomical achievement' of Champions League qualification after Aston Villa heartbreak

  John McGinn is quickly turning his focus to the "astronomical achievement" of Champions League qualification after Aston Villa suffered heartbreak in the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League.

  Villa were among the favourites to lift Europe's third-tier trophy but a 2-0 defeat at Olympiacos on Thursday consigned Unai Emery's men to a 6-2 aggregate loss over the two-leg tie.

  It means Villa end what has largely been viewed as an excellent season without a trophy but they can still finish on a high by securing a top-four finish in the Premier League.

  They lead fifth-place Tottenham by seven points with two games left in their domestic season, albeit Spurs do have a game in hand.

  McGinn apologised to the travelling support in Piraeus but, speaking to TNT Sports after the game, said there is still an opportunity to finish the season on a high.

  "We went into this competition as favourites and we handled that pressure throughout the competition, I think it’s been a huge learning curve for us," he said.

  "It's not been a smooth journey, we got to the semi-finals down to the bare bones a bit.

  "However, those of us who were out there over the two legs, we lost to who were the better team and I think the scoreline proves it."

  "Our instant feeling is absolutely gutted. We all wanted to be back here for the final.

  "Olympiacos gave it absolutely everything, played out of their skin in both legs, and overall the scoreline proves they were the better team.

  "We'll reflect, there's a lot of things we could have done better, but over the season, of course, we can be proud of the journey.

  "Obviously, we need to apologise to the supporters who have travelled here, they've travelled the whole campaign with us.

  "We wanted to deliver a trophy to them, we all wanted it as players. We’'e all bitterly disappointed, but we need a big push in the last two games to try and get over the line for the Champions League, which would be an astronomical achievement.

  "But here, the overriding feeling is disappointment, frustration and an opportunity missed. Congratulations to Olympiacos and we wish them all the best in the final."

• Sporting Kansas City v Houston Dynamo: Olsen backs visitors to respond to 'punch in the face'

  The Houston Dynamo took a "punch in the face" as they exited the U.S. Open Cup at the hands of Detroit City on Tuesday, but Ben Olsen expects his team to respond when they go to Sporting Kansas City on Saturday.

  Defending U.S. Open Cup champions Houston squandered a 2-0 lead against their USL Championship opponents in midweek before losing a dramatic penalty shoot-out 10-9.

  They now turn their attentions back to MLS, sitting eighth in the Western Conference with 14 points from their first 10 games of the year, and Olsen expects them to bounce back.

  "It's a good punch in the face. But I think they'll respond," Olsen said.

  "We have a good group in there and I think we have the right character to turn this into a positive."

  Sporting KC trail Houston by just three points in the standings, but they made it through their own U.S. Open Cup tie against Union Omaha in midweek, winning 2-1 in extra time.

  Boss Peter Vermes is not overly concerned by the physical toll taken by having to play 120 minutes, pointing out Houston did likewise only one day earlier.

  "Houston had to do the same yesterday. The only thing is they have a day extra rest," he said.

  "We have just got to do the best we can to recover and get ready for that game. It was good. We used all of our subs. 

  "Everybody's getting minutes and now we just have got to get ourselves recovered and get ready for Houston on Saturday."

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Sporting KC – Johnny Russell

  Russell has scored eight goals against the Dynamo in all competitions, more than against any other opponent in his Kansas City career. He has scored against Houston at least once in each of the last six years.

  Houston Dynamo – Ibrahim Aliyu

  The Dynamo had a combined 22 shots on goal during their 0-0 draw with St. Louis City last Saturday, with top scorer Aliyu having five of those – the most by a Houston player in an MLS game this season.

  The Nigerian has three goals this campaign and will be looking to get back on the scoresheet at the weekend.

  MATCH PREDICTION: SPORTING KANSAS CITY WIN

  Kansas City have won five straight home matches against Houston in all competitions and have only lost twice in their last 19 at home against the Dynamo in all competitions (11 wins, six draws) dating back to 2012.

  However, Kansas City are winless in four straight home matches (two draws, two defeats) for the first time since a five-match drought between July and August in 2021. Sporting have conceded three times in each of their last four home matches, equalling the second-longest such streak in MLS history.

  The Dynamo’s goalless draw with St. Louis City last week was their third straight regular-season match without a goal. Houston had been shut out in only two of their previous 18 regular-season matches dating back to last August. Their attacking issues mean Sporting go in as favourites. 

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Sporting Kansas City – 47.7%

  Draw – 27.7%

  Houston Dynamo – 24.6%

• Bayer Leverkusen deserve treble, says Xabi Alonso after Roma late show

  Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso said his team deserve to win all three trophies available to them this season after they qualified for the Europa League final by seeing off Roma on Thursday.

  Leverkusen, who have already wrapped up the Bundesliga title and will contest the DFB-Pokal final on May 25, stretched their unbeaten run through all competitions this season to 49 matches, surpassing Benfica's long-standing European top-tier record set between 1963 and 1965.

  Once again, they did it the hard way after two Leandro Paredes penalties wiped out their first-leg advantage, with a Gianluca Mancini own goal and a stoppage-time strike from Josip Stanisic completing a dramatic comeback.

  Following their 4-2 aggregate victory, Roma will face Atalanta in the May 22 final in Dublin, after La Dea overcame Marseille 4-1 on aggregate in the other semi-final.

  "We'll play two finals in a week as a result," Alonso said. "We showed great character today after their second goal. 

  "I looked my players in the eye afterwards and saw that they wanted more.

  "We still have the chance to win three titles, and my boys deserve all three titles."

  Despite going 3-2 up on aggregate when Mancini put through his own net, Leverkusen refused to sit back as they looked to preserve their unbeaten record, which they did through Stanisic's 97th-minute strike.

  Asked whether that goal was one of the biggest moments of his career, the Bayern Munich loanee said: "Definitely one of them. 

  "We knew what was at stake, we really wanted to get to the final and I think you could see that over 90 minutes today.

  "I don't think we would have cared in the end if we lost and still progressed because we really wanted to get to the final, but it's even nicer this way."

  For Roma, the chance to reach a second straight Europa League final after last season's defeat by Sevilla on penalties slipped away in the dying minutes of the match.

  "When you manage to get it back from 2-0 down and go close to the miracle, knowing nobody has ever beaten them this season, it hurts to see us concede a goal like that. It hurts," Roma boss Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.