From Portugal to France via Ukraine and Italy, Paulo Fonseca has traversed Europe honing his football identity but the message has always been the same: his teams are here to entertain.
On Thursday, the 51-year-old takes his young Lille side to England - where he almost ended up three years ago before talks with Tottenham fell through - to face Aston Villa in their Europa Conference League quarter-final first leg.
After success in Portugal, three successive Doubles with Shakhtar Donetsk and "growing a lot" with Roma, the Portuguese manager has spent the past two seasons rebuilding a Lille squad that was stripped of its best assets after winning the Ligue 1 title in 2021.
Now a side branded France's most entertaining are chasing Champions League football once again and will not take a backward step against Villa, despite Fonseca's respect for counterpart Unai Emery.
"I love the game," Fonseca tells BBC Sport. "For me, this is a big passion and as coach we have this big obligation to build a good spectacle for people.
"It is not just about winning, it is about how to win. This process is really important. We want to dominate games, we want to play an offensive game, we want to react fast when we lose the ball, we want to press high, recover the ball high.
"It doesn't matter who is the opponent, we want to have the courage to be ourselves, to have a strong identity in every moment of the game."
Jurgen Klopp on the chance to win the Europa League, the only trophy he is yet to win with Liverpool: "It's not personal for me, it's for us.
"Eight years ago when we played in Basel and lost against Sevilla it was not a great start - but [it was] the start for many other things."
On opponents Atalanta: "[Gian Piero] Gasperini has been doing a brilliant job for years.
"Tactically, they are super-disciplined and super-dangerous in other areas. We are not thinking about the final. We really have to be at our best."
On his side's busy run-in: "It's not so much about training, it's about meetings, analysis, media - stuff like that.
"This rhythm is normal for us. We don't train a lot - we prepare."
'Winning ECL would put Villa back on map'
Aston Villa v Lille (20:00 BST)
Video content
Video caption: The Football News Show: Conference League puts Aston Villa 'on the map', says Ian TaylorThe Football News Show: Conference League puts Aston Villa 'on the map', says Ian Taylor
Former Aston Villa midfielder Ian Taylor told The Football News Show: "The atmosphere at Villa Park under the lights is something to behold. The fans seem so much more up for it.
"It means everything. If you look at the last few years and where we’ve been, people wouldn’t have envisioned this at all. We were languishing in the Championship, and now we’ve got a world-renowned manager, some great players in the squad, sitting fifth in the Premier League – it’s not too bad, is it?
"I think it’s the manager. We’ve had our sticky patches like everybody has, but being a Villa fan at the moment is fantastic.
"I was still in the team that won the last trophy, so it’s been a long time. This team we’ve got at the moment, we’re going in the right direction, it’s something to build on and hopefully it won’t be too longer before we do win a trophy.
"[Winning the Conference League] would put us back on the map - we’ve got people talking about us again, in the Premier League. People talk about the Conference League and it’s not a major trophy, but it’s a trophy. Is what you play football for. If we can do that, it’s a stepping stone to something else."
'We are still confident'
Bayer Leverkusen v West Ham (20:00 BST)
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
West Ham captain Kurt Zouma is expecting "the toughest challenge yet" as they take on Bayer Leverkusen.
"They haven't lost for a long time, and we know how well they have played this season," said Zouma.
"But we are still confident. We know the qualities we have and we showed that against Freiburg in the last round.
"We always play to win. We know we might be missing some key players, but we have a good squad and we'll all give 100%."
An all-Italian tie
AC Milan v Roma (20:00 BST)
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Away from the Premier League teams, Serie A's second and fifth-placed teams will face each other at San Siro tonight.
AC MIlan host AS Roma, with 13 points separating the teams in their respective league table.
Milan have beaten Roma twice this season already, in Serie A, and will be hoping to add a third triumph this evening in the Europa League.
Roma are looking to continue their defence of the trophy they won last term.
BreakingTeam news: Six changes for Liverpool - Jota & Alexander-Arnold on bench
Liverpool v Atalanta (20:00 BST)
Liverpool make six changes to the side that started the 2-2 draw at Manchester United on Sunday. Diogo Jota, who has not played since 17 February because of injury, is on the bench along with Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has been out with a knee injury since 10 February.
In come Joe Gomez, Ibrahima Konate, Curtis Jones, Cody Gakpo, Harvey Elliott and Kostas Tsimikas.
Rested and on the bench are Conor Bradley, Jarell Quansah, Andy Robertson, Dominik Szoboszlai, Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz.
Nineteen-year-old Spanish midfielder Stefan Bajcetic, who has also been out with injury, is also on the bench.
Liverpool XI: Kelleher, Gomez, Konate, van Dijk, Tsimikas, Jones,
Mac Allister, Endo, Elliott, Nunez, Gakpo.
Atalanta's starting XI includes Davide Zappacosta, who won the Europa League with Chelsea in 2019. Former West Ham forward Gianluca Scamacca is also in the XI.
Scamacca scored Italy's goal in a 3-1 defeat against England in a Euro 2024 qualifier at Wembley in October.
Skipper Marten de Roon's former clubs include Middlesbrough while Mario Pasalic is an ex-Chelsea midfielder.
Former Everton winger Ademola Lookman is on the bench.
Atalanta XI: Musso, Zappacosta, Djimsiti, Hien, Ruggeri,
Ederson Silva, de Roon, Pasalic, Koopmeiners, Scamacca,
De Ketelaere.
Video caption: 42 years on from their greatest triumph, can Aston Villa lift European silverware again?42 years on from their greatest triumph, can Aston Villa lift European silverware again?
It's been an impressive season so far for Aston Villa, they
are fifth in the Premier League with Champions League qualification looking
likely, and in the last eight of the Europa Conference League.
They have transformed under manager Unai Emery, who himself has won the Europa League
four times with Sevilla and Villareal.
So, 42 years on from their greatest
triumph, can Aston Villa lift European silverware once again?
Coming up tonight...
Plenty of European football to stick our teeth into tonight.
Here's what we've got coming up in the Europa League:
Bayer Leverkusen v West Ham
Benfica v Marseille
Liverpool v Atalanta
AC Milan v Roma
We'll have regular updates from Anfield and BayArena but we'll keep you posted with what's going on elsewhere.
There's also matches taking place in the Europa Conference League:
Aston Villa v Lille
Club Bruges v PAOK Salonika
Good evening
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
We're back with more European quarter-finals as Liverpool, West Ham and Aston Villa all hope to progress.
David Moyes' side have been dealt a tough draw against Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League.
They kick-off their tie in Germany tonight, while Liverpool are at Anfield to take on Atalanta.
Elsewhere in the Europa Conference League, Aston Villa host Lille. All three of those matches kick-off at 20:00 BST.
Live Reporting
Emma Sanders and Emlyn Begley
All times stated are UK
Team news - seven changes for Leverkusen; Antonio starts
Bayer Leverkusen v West Ham (20:00 BST)
Xabi Alonso makes seven changes to the Bayer Leverkusen that won 1-0 at Union Berlin on Saturday.
Only captain Jonathan Tah, Granit Xhaka, Alex Grimaldo and Florian Wirtz keep their places.
Leverkusen are unbeaten after 41 games in all competitions this season.
Bayer Leverkusen XI: Kovar, Stanisic, Tah, Tapsoba, Frimpong, Palacios, Xhaka, Grimaldo, Wirtz, Adli, Schick
Subs: Hradecky, Lomb, Hincapie, Kossounou, Hofmann, Andrich, Iglesias, Arthur, Tella, Boniface, Puerta.
David Moyes makes two changes to the West Ham side that started their 2-1 win at Wolves at the weekend.
Both are enforced with Jarrod Bowen out with a knee injury and Edson Alvarez suspended.
In to replace them are Aaron Cresswell and Michail Antonio.
West Ham XI: Fabianski, Coufal, Mavropanos, Zouma, Cresswell, Emerson, Ward-Prowse, Soucek, Paqueta, Kudus, Antonio.
Subs: Anang, Knightbridge, Aguerd, Ogbonna, Ings, Johnson, Cornet, Mubama, Earthy, Orford, Casey.
Fonseca's young Lille side built to entertain
Aston Villa v Lille (20:00 BST)
Alex Bysouth
BBC Sport
From Portugal to France via Ukraine and Italy, Paulo Fonseca has traversed Europe honing his football identity but the message has always been the same: his teams are here to entertain.
On Thursday, the 51-year-old takes his young Lille side to England - where he almost ended up three years ago before talks with Tottenham fell through - to face Aston Villa in their Europa Conference League quarter-final first leg.
After success in Portugal, three successive Doubles with Shakhtar Donetsk and "growing a lot" with Roma, the Portuguese manager has spent the past two seasons rebuilding a Lille squad that was stripped of its best assets after winning the Ligue 1 title in 2021.
Now a side branded France's most entertaining are chasing Champions League football once again and will not take a backward step against Villa, despite Fonseca's respect for counterpart Unai Emery.
"I love the game," Fonseca tells BBC Sport. "For me, this is a big passion and as coach we have this big obligation to build a good spectacle for people.
"It is not just about winning, it is about how to win. This process is really important. We want to dominate games, we want to play an offensive game, we want to react fast when we lose the ball, we want to press high, recover the ball high.
"It doesn't matter who is the opponent, we want to have the courage to be ourselves, to have a strong identity in every moment of the game."
Read more here.
'We are not thinking about the final'
Liverpool v Atalanta (20:00 BST)
Jurgen Klopp on the chance to win the Europa League, the only trophy he is yet to win with Liverpool: "It's not personal for me, it's for us.
"Eight years ago when we played in Basel and lost against Sevilla it was not a great start - but [it was] the start for many other things."
On opponents Atalanta: "[Gian Piero] Gasperini has been doing a brilliant job for years.
"Tactically, they are super-disciplined and super-dangerous in other areas. We are not thinking about the final. We really have to be at our best."
On his side's busy run-in: "It's not so much about training, it's about meetings, analysis, media - stuff like that.
"This rhythm is normal for us. We don't train a lot - we prepare."
'Winning ECL would put Villa back on map'
Aston Villa v Lille (20:00 BST)
Video content
Former Aston Villa midfielder Ian Taylor told The Football News Show: "The atmosphere at Villa Park under the lights is something to behold. The fans seem so much more up for it.
"It means everything. If you look at the last few years and where we’ve been, people wouldn’t have envisioned this at all. We were languishing in the Championship, and now we’ve got a world-renowned manager, some great players in the squad, sitting fifth in the Premier League – it’s not too bad, is it?
"I think it’s the manager. We’ve had our sticky patches like everybody has, but being a Villa fan at the moment is fantastic.
"I was still in the team that won the last trophy, so it’s been a long time. This team we’ve got at the moment, we’re going in the right direction, it’s something to build on and hopefully it won’t be too longer before we do win a trophy.
"[Winning the Conference League] would put us back on the map - we’ve got people talking about us again, in the Premier League. People talk about the Conference League and it’s not a major trophy, but it’s a trophy. Is what you play football for. If we can do that, it’s a stepping stone to something else."
'We are still confident'
Bayer Leverkusen v West Ham (20:00 BST)
West Ham captain Kurt Zouma is expecting "the toughest challenge yet" as they take on Bayer Leverkusen.
"They haven't lost for a long time, and we know how well they have played this season," said Zouma.
"But we are still confident. We know the qualities we have and we showed that against Freiburg in the last round.
"We always play to win. We know we might be missing some key players, but we have a good squad and we'll all give 100%."
An all-Italian tie
AC Milan v Roma (20:00 BST)
Away from the Premier League teams, Serie A's second and fifth-placed teams will face each other at San Siro tonight.
AC MIlan host AS Roma, with 13 points separating the teams in their respective league table.
Milan have beaten Roma twice this season already, in Serie A, and will be hoping to add a third triumph this evening in the Europa League.
Roma are looking to continue their defence of the trophy they won last term.
BreakingTeam news: Six changes for Liverpool - Jota & Alexander-Arnold on bench
Liverpool v Atalanta (20:00 BST)
Liverpool make six changes to the side that started the 2-2 draw at Manchester United on Sunday. Diogo Jota, who has not played since 17 February because of injury, is on the bench along with Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has been out with a knee injury since 10 February.
In come Joe Gomez, Ibrahima Konate, Curtis Jones, Cody Gakpo, Harvey Elliott and Kostas Tsimikas.
Rested and on the bench are Conor Bradley, Jarell Quansah, Andy Robertson, Dominik Szoboszlai, Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz.
Nineteen-year-old Spanish midfielder Stefan Bajcetic, who has also been out with injury, is also on the bench.
Liverpool XI: Kelleher, Gomez, Konate, van Dijk, Tsimikas, Jones, Mac Allister, Endo, Elliott, Nunez, Gakpo.
Subs: Diaz, Szoboszlai, Salah, Adrian, Jota, Robertson, Gravenberch, Clark, Bajcetic, Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, Bradley.
Atalanta's starting XI includes Davide Zappacosta, who won the Europa League with Chelsea in 2019. Former West Ham forward Gianluca Scamacca is also in the XI.
Scamacca scored Italy's goal in a 3-1 defeat against England in a Euro 2024 qualifier at Wembley in October.
Skipper Marten de Roon's former clubs include Middlesbrough while Mario Pasalic is an ex-Chelsea midfielder.
Former Everton winger Ademola Lookman is on the bench.
Atalanta XI: Musso, Zappacosta, Djimsiti, Hien, Ruggeri, Ederson Silva, de Roon, Pasalic, Koopmeiners, Scamacca, De Ketelaere.
Subs: Toloi, Holm, Toure, Lookman, Bakker, Adopo, Carnesecchi, Rossi, Hateboer, Bonfanti, Miranchuk.
Can Villa recreate history?
Aston Villa v Lille (20:00 BST)
Video content
It's been an impressive season so far for Aston Villa, they are fifth in the Premier League with Champions League qualification looking likely, and in the last eight of the Europa Conference League.
They have transformed under manager Unai Emery, who himself has won the Europa League four times with Sevilla and Villareal.
So, 42 years on from their greatest triumph, can Aston Villa lift European silverware once again?
Coming up tonight...
Plenty of European football to stick our teeth into tonight.
Here's what we've got coming up in the Europa League:
We'll have regular updates from Anfield and BayArena but we'll keep you posted with what's going on elsewhere.
There's also matches taking place in the Europa Conference League:
Good evening
We're back with more European quarter-finals as Liverpool, West Ham and Aston Villa all hope to progress.
David Moyes' side have been dealt a tough draw against Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League.
They kick-off their tie in Germany tonight, while Liverpool are at Anfield to take on Atalanta.
Elsewhere in the Europa Conference League, Aston Villa host Lille. All three of those matches kick-off at 20:00 BST.