AS Roma wins first leg: Leverkusen stumbles in the fight for the Europa League final

AS Roma win first leg
Leverkusen stumbles in the fight for the Europa League final

05/11/2023 10:54 p.m

Bayer Leverkusen goes into the second leg of the Europa League against AS Roma with a deficit. In the first leg of the semi-finals in Italy, the Bundesliga side’s defense made a serious mistake – José Mourinho’s team, on the other hand, hardly gave up any chances. Leverkusen have to improve significantly at home.

The final dream in danger: Bayer Leverkusen fell behind in the semi-final first leg of the Europa League and is in danger of missing the first European final in 21 years. The team coached by Xabi Alonso lost 0-1 (0-0) at AS Roma, so the Werkself are under pressure in the second leg next Thursday.

“The Romans were more dangerous in the second half. Up front it was a bit too little for my taste. 1-0 is not the best result. But it could have been worse. We felt we could beat them. We did still hope,” said Bayer keeper Lukas Hradecky on RTL. Match winner Bove said: “The win is deserved. We did a good job. It will be tough in the second leg in Leverkusen, anything can happen. We’re trying to win the game.”

In the Eternal City, Rome’s Edoardo Bove (63′) scored the decisive goal of the evening, while the guests were unlucky in front of goal. Should Leverkusen buy the final ticket in the BayArena despite the defeat in the first leg, the winner of the duel between Juventus Turin and FC Sevilla would be waiting on May 31 – here EL record winner Sevilla led well into injury time before Juve in the 90+ minute 7 still managed to equalize 1:1.

Wirtz just misses the goal

Before kick-off, media attention was also focused on the showdown on the sidelines: Bayer coach Alonso met his former mentor José Mourinho for the first time. Before the game, both greeted each other with a warm hug. As soon as the game started, however, an interesting duel between the two took place on the sidelines. Alonso conducted a lot and paced up and down in the coaching zone. For standards, he sat on the bench and left the classification to his assistant Sebastian Parrilla.

Mourinho mostly followed the action with his hands in his pockets. But he kept going back to the bank and talking to his assistants. Out of nowhere, tantrums or shouts of encouragement suddenly erupted, and Mourinho kept trying to push his team or throw the opponent or the referees off balance. From “Mou” he learned how “to convince a team to fight for a common goal,” Alonso said – and his team, in which world champion Exequiel Palacios returned to the starting XI, played in front of almost 64,000 fans in the heated Stadio Olimpico good to go.

Less than 60 seconds were played when Robert Andrich, who had moved up, tested Rome keeper Rui Patricio for the first time. Shortly thereafter, Florian Wirtz (6th) combined with a one-two through the defensive network, his low shot just missed the goal.

The winner of the conference league acted without ideas against the well-staggered Leverkusen, often with long balls – and needed a free kick for the first big chance: standard specialist Lorenzo Pellegrini found the head of Roger Ibanez (19th), the Bayer goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky to one brilliant deed forced.

Bayer defender limps off injured

Roma sensed the dawn, but the Werkself nipped the attacking efforts in the bud without coming into their own offensively. Both sides didn’t give up the ball and went into tough duels – many interruptions were the result.

Alonso had to change for the first time after 36 minutes. Right-back Odilon Kossounou lay down after a running duel and then limped off the field with a bandaged thigh. Mitchel Bakker replaced him. A little later it went goalless in front of the eyes of national coach Hansi Flick and Roma legend Francesco Totti. The hosts then looked fresher without a break on either side, but Bayer survived the storm and urge phase unscathed up to the 55th minute.

DFB sporting director Rudi Völler followed the intense duel between his two heart clubs from the stands, as did national coach Hansi Flick, UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin and Roma icon Francesco Totti. They all saw how Alonso and his team matured for a long time against the tactical tricks and mind games of Roma coach Mourinho.

Then the Italian U21 international Bove scored the goal of the evening – when the Werkself tried to set the tone again, Roma struck. Hradecky parried a shot from center forward Tammy Abraham, and Bove threw the ball over the line. Shortly before the end, Jeremie Frimpong had Bayer’s chance to equalize, but Roma defender Bryan Cristante saved his batted goalkeeper with a chest just before the goal line (87′).