The Werkself have the ball, but the Italian capitalists shift their chains in a disciplined manner and don’t offer any gaps.
Unlike Kossounou, the Dutchman continues.
Another Bayer player is on the ground, this time Frimpong got it. The Romans initially continue the attack, but a high pass to Abraham goes too far.
Bakker will work on the left flank, Hincapié slips into the back three. Tapsoba rotates to Kossounou’s position.
Substitution at Bayer Leverkusen
Mitchel Bakker replaces Odilon Kossounou
Due to the muscular problems, he really can’t go any further, he limps off the field with the support of the physiotherapists. Bakker will come in for him.
With Kossounou it pulls into the back of the right thigh. The Ivorian needs treatment.
The Farbenstadt-based team let the ball run in the opposing half for the first time in a few minutes. This almost gives Rome a chance to counterattack, but Frimpong works hard back.
Belotti is sent into a running duel with Kossounou in the penalty area. At high speed, he puts his body in a bit, there is contact. The Romanisti loudly demand a penalty, but the contact is simply not enough for a whistle.
After Bayer had more shares of the game at the beginning, the hosts have been more active for a few minutes. However, the Romans have hardly found any solutions against the compact Bayer defense from the game.
After an aerial duel from a great height, Zeki Çelik crashed unhappily on his right shoulder, which didn’t look good. But the Turk quickly gets up again and on we go.
The English referee Michael Oliver has been on quite a long leash so far. He allows strong physical duels for a very long time, and he doesn’t seem to be too easy on cards either.
Leverkusen tries to regain control of the game and manages to do so through calm phases of possession.
The Associazione Sportiva is now in the initial phase of pressure, but despite significantly more space on the left edge of the penalty area, they are unable to create another clear chance to score. In the end, Tapsoba clears a weak cross with his head.
And there’s the first Big chance for the Romans, but Hrádecký saved the goal with a very strong reflex! Pellegrini chips the free-kick cross into the centre, behind Tapsoba the ball falls on Ibañez’s head. He wants to nod off in the left, long corner. Hrádecký reacts brilliantly and extends his right hand.
Diaby misses a pass to Tah, the defender has to go into a duel with Abraham and comes too late. The referee lets the yellow card stick, but free kick for Rome.
Rome currently has a longer ball possession phase and can shift the game into the Bayer half for a while.
Spinazzola tunnels Frimpong and dribbles into the penalty area from the left, but puts the ball too far in front. Kossounou unintentionally “takes revenge” for the tunnel: when he wants to clear, he slams the ball full into the Italian’s stomach from very close range. He has to recover briefly, but can then continue playing.
Abraham delayed too long on a possible counterattack half-right in midfield, so Leverkusen quickly sorted themselves out again.
Bayer is very disciplined in defensive work and hasn’t really let the Romans into the penalty area yet. Both teams are defensively very focused on compact defending.
After Andrich’s early chance and Wirtz’s opportunity, as well as Leverkusen’s initial field advantage, it can be said that the Werkself have made a good start to the first leg of the semi-finals.
Wirtz just fails! Now the Rhinelanders are playing into the opposing penalty area for the first time. Wirtz is able to keep the ball in the tightest of spaces while dribbling, then plays a one-two with Hložek. This leverages the defensive center of Rome, Wirtz pushes the ball from about 14 meters away but just past the left post.
Now the Romans also had the first longer ball relays, but like the Bavarians they are still rather careful with them. The first few minutes are characterized by mutual respect.
Leverkusen get into this game faster than the Giallorossi and initially have a little possession, but cannot find a gap in the opposing defensive network.
The guests have the first small chance that Andrich could have turned into a bigger opportunity. Hincapié breaks through on the left and finds the midfielder in the backcourt, whose finish at full speed is clearly too lax.
The referee comes from England and is called Michael Oliver. AS Roma play in red jerseys, Leverkusen act in white.
The Romanisti immerse the Stadio Olimpico in a red and yellow choreography. A magnificent atmosphere in the Italian capital, to which the Leverkusen fans who traveled with them also contributed with a choreography. Dinner is served!
At AS Roma, coach José Mourinho makes two changes after the 2-0 home defeat by Inter Milan. Çelik and Abraham start instead of Zalewski and Camara.
As for the line-ups, Xabi Alonso makes three changes compared to the 2-1 defeat by Cologne. The Spanish coach takes the only goalscorer from the Cologne game, Adli, out of the starting lineup, with Hložek starting in his place. In addition, Amiri and Bakker are replaced by Palacios and Kossounou on the bench.
While Leverkusen are the only team representing German football in Europe, there are an impressive five Italian semi-finalists in the three European competitions. After yesterday’s Milan derby in the premier class, Florence is playing parallel against Basel in the Conference League tonight. Juventus and Roma can even ensure an all-Italian Europa League final for the first time, but of course Sevilla and Leverkusen have something against it.
However, José Mourinho’s team is in poor form. The Romans have not won any of their last four league games. Against the direct competition in the fight for the European Cup places, of all things, there were two defeats at Bergamo (1: 3) and against Inter Milan (0: 2), who were successful yesterday in the Champions League semi-finals. Rome were held to a 1-1 draw by yesterday’s Inter opponents AC Milan and their only non-rivals AC Monza. Can the Associazione Sportiva get the league problems out of their heads for today?
During the knockout round, AS Roma switched to RB Salzburg (0:1, 2:0), Real Sociedad (2:0, 0:0) and last year’s final opponent in the Conference League, Feyenoord Rotterdam (0:1, 4:1). ) out of.
After dropping out of the group stage in the Champions League, Leverkusen only lost the first knockout game against AS Monaco in the Europa League. In both round of 16 games against Ferencvaros Budapest (both 2-0) and in the quarter-finals with a clear 4-1 away win at Union Saint-Gilloise (after 1-1 in the first leg), Leverkusen made for very clear conditions.
Back to the present: Bayer suffered their first defeat since mid-February in the Rhenish Derby of all places (and after the much-discussed early postponement of the game due to today’s semi-final). Cologne won 2-1 and ended Leverkusen’s unbeaten run of 14 competitive games. Despite the derby defeat behind them, the Werkself, as the Bundesliga team that has been in the best form in recent weeks, should be broad enough for today’s semi-finals.
Roma and Leverkusen met in 2004 and 2015, twice each in the Champions League group stage. While Bayer won the first duel, Rome won the last – there were two draws in between. Most of the time it was a high-scoring affair: 19 goals were scored in four meetings, some of which were memorable. The furious 4-4 draw in Leverkusen in 2015, for example, should still be remembered by many Bayer fans.
For the Werkself it is the fourth semi-final appearance in their own European history. They then made it to the final twice: In the 2002 Champions League, Leverkusen lost the final against Real Madrid and went down in history as the “runner-up”. 14 years earlier Bayer won the final against Español Barcelona after a first and second leg on penalties – to victory in the 1988 UEFA Cup.
Good evening and welcome to the semifinals of the Europa League with German participation! Bayer Leverkusen is away to AS Roma in the first leg, kick-off at 9 p.m. at the Stadio Olimpico.