Villarreal flying Spanish flag in Europa League last four

LISBON // Spain's Villarreal are looking to thwart the Europa League trophy ambitions of three Portuguese clubs as four Iberian teams line up in the semi-finals tonight.

At least one club from Portugal will make it to the final in Dublin next month as Benfica meet domestic rivals Braga.

Villarreal travel to Porto in the other first-leg encounter.

Of the Portuguese sides, Porto are the more fancied candidates after chalking up a 27-game unbeaten streak in the domestic championship and winning 12 of their 14 games in Europe this season.

But Villarreal, who reached the semi-finals in 2004 when the tournament was called the Uefa Cup, and two years later featured in the final four of the Champions League, should provide Porto's toughest test yet.

"Two attacking teams like us make the tournament more appealing," Andre Villas-Boas, the Porto coach, said. "We both play attractive football. We know it's going to be extremely difficult."

Porto's impressive form has drawn wide praise for the 33-year-old Villas-Boas in his first season as coach after serving as Jose Mourinho's assistant at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan. While at Porto, Mourinho won the Uefa Cup in 2003 and the Champions League title the following year.

Villas-Boas secured the club's 25th domestic title earlier this month with five games left to play.

Porto have profited from a formidable attack including Colombian Radamel Falcao, the Europa League's top scorer with 11 goals, and Hulk, the Brazilian striker who is the leading scorer in the domestic league with 22 strikes.

Villarreal, currently fourth in the Primera Liga, are also likely to face Falcao's international teammate Freddy Guarin and the Portugal forward Silvestre Varela. But the Spanish side have the in-form Italy striker Giuseppe Rossi, who has 30 goals this season and has netted one fewer than Falcao in Europe. Mateo Musacchio, the Villarreal defender, knows Falcao well as the pair played together in River Plate's youth ranks.

"He's a complete striker - he heads the ball well and has a great finishing touch," Musacchio said. "Both teams have very good strikers, so both teams will have to be alert in defence."

Benfica are hoping their international pedigree will help them overpower Braga, though their European glory days are a distant memory - they last lifted the continental trophy 49 years ago.

Benfica trail Porto by 19 points in the Portuguese league and are far from the form that secured the title last season. Carlos Martins, the midfielder, is in doubt with a thigh strain, but a bigger worry is the weak form of Oscar Cardozo, a striker who has not scored in open play for almost two months.

"Benfica is still a great team," Hugo Viana, the Braga midfielder, said. "This will be a different game because it's European, but we'll have to keep up our recent good work."

Braga are third in the league, 14 points behind Benfica, and have won just one of their 59 visits to the Stadium of Light.

They have never come this far in a European competition, but are on a 12-match unbeaten run and have already eliminated Liverpool, Sevilla and Celtic.