AS Roma 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen
BAYER LEVERKUSEN HAVE one foot in the Europa League final at the Aviva Stadium after winning 2-0 at Roma on Thursday to extend their remarkable unbeaten run to 47 matches.
Goals in each half from Florian Wirtz and Robert Andrich ensured victory for Xabi Alonso’s men in the Italian capital and gave the Bundesliga champions a great chance of reaching the final later this month.
Leverkusen will meet either Atalanta or Marseille in Dublin should they hold out in Germany next week. On the evidence of their performance in Rome they will be firm favourites to win their first European trophy since the old Uefa Cup in 1988.
𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 🎞
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) May 2, 2024
Roma are two games away from reaching back to back UEFA Europa League finals. Could they inflict a first defeat of the season on Xabi Alonso's Bundesliga champions?
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Alonso’s team have needed a string of last gasp goals to keep their unbeaten run going in recent weeks but there was no need for any frantic finishes in the Italian capital as Leverkusen’s superiority was fully on display.
Roma face a huge task if they are to reach a third European final in as many years after barely troubling Matej Kovar’s goal beyond Romelu Lukaku striking the woodwork with the scores level.
Daniele De Rossi’s team are also in a dogfight to reach next season’s revamped Champions League in Serie A while Leverkusen remain on course for a Bundesliga, German Cup and Europa League treble.
Leverkusen started with Victor Boniface and former Roma man Patrik Schick on the bench as Alonso, who is gunning for an unbeaten season, started with a conservative line-up.
It was a cagey affair until Lukaku headed onto the crossbar in the 22nd minute after Leandro Paredes did brilliantly to bring down an overhit corner and hook the ball back for the Belgium forward.
Moments later the away fans briefly roared with celebration as Jeremie Frimpong slipped clean through a dozing Roma back line and lifted his finish into the side netting.
But the Leverkusen fans didn’t have to wait long to see their side take the lead, and it was another Roma slip up which allowed it to happened in the 28th minute.
Rick Karsdorp cleaned up after Chris Smalling misjudged a header but his weak back pass allowed Alejandro Grimaldo to set up Wirtz for a simple finish.
The hosts were lucky not to be two down five minutes later when Frimpong flashed wide from a great position.
Roma looked shaky every time Leverkusen came forward and after Smalling gave away a cheap corner under pressure from Amine Adli the home defence left Piero Hincapie free to head over the bar six minutes after the break.
Bryan Cristante lanced a great chance wide from Paulo Dybala’s corner but Roma’s fans were finally deflated in the 73rd by Andrich’s brilliant strike which put the tie firmly in Leverkusen’s hands.
Roma would have had a lifeline in stoppage time had substitute Tammy Abraham not headed over in front of an open goal but instead their European adventure is all but over.
Marseille 1-1 Atalanta
𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 🎞
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) May 2, 2024
Two teams with big ambitions met in France tonight looking to take control of the tie with a place in the final in Dublin later this month at stake.
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Marseille’s Europa League semi-final tie against Atalanta is finely poised going into the return after the teams drew 1-1 in Thursday’s first leg in France.
Gianluca Scamacca gave Atalanta an early lead to silence a huge crowd at a packed Velodrome, but Chancel Mbemba quickly pulled Marseille level with a stunning strike from outside the box.
The draw means it will be all to play for in the second leg in Bergamo next Thursday, although Atalanta must be considered the favourites as they dream of reaching a European final for the first time in their history.
Marseille, who are appearing in their third European semi-final in seven years, have been much stronger in front of their own fans this season, with Paris Saint-Germain the only visiting team to beat them at the Velodrome over 90 minutes in any competition.
However, they have regularly struggled on their travels and just reaching the semi-finals was a fine achievement for a club who are outside the European places in Ligue 1 and are on their third coach of the campaign.
Atalanta stunned Liverpool in the quarter-finals after winning 3-0 in the first leg at Anfield, and they went ahead inside 11 minutes in the south of France.
Scamacca, who scored twice in that game against Jurgen Klopp’s side, was neglected by the Marseille defence as he controlled a pass from Teun Koopmeiners before firing in past home goalkeeper Pau Lopez.
The visitors then lost defender Sead Kolasinac to an apparent hamstring injury, forcing a reshuffle which saw captain Marten de Roon drop back from midfield into the back line.
They were still readjusting when Marseille equalised in the 20th minute.
A corner was played short on the home side’s right flank, before Geoffrey Kondogbia laid the ball back to Mbemba who controlled before letting fly with a shot that sailed into the net off the left-hand post.
It was the Congolese defender’s fourth goal in the competition this season, and Marseille probably should have built on that to take the lead into the break.
They cut Atalanta open on the counter, with Amine Harit unselfishly finding Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, only for the Europa League’s all-time top scorer to send his shot across goal and wide of the far post.
Conscious of the importance of having a lead to take to Italy, Marseille continued to push in the second half and came closest when Azzedine Ounahi -– just on as a substitute -– collected an Aubameyang pass before cracking a shot off a post.
The French side, Europa League runners-up in 2018 as well as Uefa Cup finalists in 1999 and 2004, will hope they don’t live to regret these missed chances as they dream of reaching another final, this time in Dublin later this month.
