The Europa League "could culminate in a toxic final" pitting a Ukrainian side against Russia's Zenit St. Petersburg despite UEFA's attempts to keep them apart, according to Mike Keegan of the London DAILY MAIL. European football's governing body "ensured clubs from the two nations have not played each other in the competition this year because of fears that tensions between them concerning the Ukrainian conflict could boil over." But UEFA "is powerless to prevent teams from meeting in the final," with Zenit St. Petersburg and Ukraine's Dnipro and Dynamo Kiev in quarterfinal action on Thursday. Should all three progress, that would render the semifinal draw "virtually meaningless, with the two Ukrainian sides destined to meet each other" and Zenit knowing it would face the winner of the Serie A side Napoli versus Bundesliga side Vfl Wolfsburg clash. The fact that the showpiece fixture will take place in the Polish capital Warsaw, where clashes erupted the last time Poland played Russia in '12, "adds a further troubling element." UEFA traditionally invites the heads of state from the countries of each participant in the final to the match and has "no plans to do any different this year if sides from Russia and Ukraine make the final." That would mean Russian President Vladimir Putin "would be sat yards away from his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko at the Stadion Narodowy" (DAILY MAIL, 4/23).
