Fulham boss Roy Hodgson believes the Europa League is a far tougher competition to be successful in than when he was with Inter Milan competing in the old UEFA Cup. In 1997 Hodgson guided Inter to the final of what was then the UEFA Cup before losing on penalties to Schalke.
"Ten months is a long time to be playing," admitted Hodgson.
"These will be our 16th and 17th games in this competition. When I got to the final with Inter, which was a double-headed final, we played 12 games.
"Now we'll have ended up playing 17 even if we go out, so it's half the season longer.
"That shows what we have achieved, and in reaching that final at Inter we did not encounter anything like the standard of opposition that we have had to meet here."