Celta primed for date with history

The moment of truth is here for RC Celta. Well, at least it will be when the action kicks off in north-east Belgium on Thursday at 21:05 CET, with the Galicians visiting KRC Genk for the return leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie and raring to break new ground.

Goals from Pione Sisto, Iago Aspas and John Guidetti handed Eduardo Berizzo's side the upper hand in the first leg and have fuelled their dreams of achieving something the club has never done before in its 93-and-a-half-year history. Before this term, Los Celestes had reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League – or the UEFA Cup, as it was known at the time – on three prior occasions (in 1998/99, 1999/2000 and 2000/01), but they have never made it through to the last four. However, they have never been closer and they will go all out to finally overcome that hurdle this time round.

With home advantage in the decider, Genk will take heart from both the two away goals they netted in Vigo and their impressive record in front of their fans in the Europa League this season, having won seven and drawn one of their eight European fixtures at the Luminus Arena. However, Berizzo's troops have proven to be tough cookies on the road in the knockout stage, triumphing 2-0 away to both FC Shakhtar Donetsk and FC Krasnodar to make it this far. Their five Europa League trips this term have yielded three wins, a draw and a solitary defeat, and all five of the scorelines from those games would be enough to keep them in the competition. What's more, Celta haven't lost on any of their three previous visits to Belgium.

The ultimate goal is to advance to the final, which will be staged at Stockholm's Friends Arena on 24 May. True to form, Berizzo will send his team out with all guns blazing as they seek to take another step towards to the Swedish capital, although he won't be able to call on Italian striker Giuseppe Rossi, who suffered a serious knee injury a week and a half ago. Given the historic occasion, the full Celestes squad have travelled to Belgium with the exception of Rossi, who is undergoing treatment in the United States.

The tie may be in the balance, but Celta have certainly earned the right to dream big and shown they've got what it takes to go all the way.