Bayer Leverkusen’s next opponent
“Epic comeback” from AS Roma: Mourinho makes a great appearance as a cheerleader
José Mourinho’s team saves against Feyenoord Rotterdam in the last second and ends up winning. Coach José Mourinho then gives the cheer for the Roma fans.
© Paolo Bruno / Getty Images
Bayer Leverkusen’s opponent in the semifinals of the Europa League is AS Roma. The Italian club celebrated a stunning victory in extra time and coach José Mourinho made a great showing to cheer the fans on.
In the closing seconds of the rousing game, coach José Mourinho gave the cheerleader. “An epic comeback”, wrote the “Gazzetta dello Sport” after AS Roma’s 4-1 win over Feyenoord Rotterdam. “Rome come back and beat Feyenoord in extra time,” said La Stampa. Mourinho jumped from the dugout at Rome’s Olympic Stadium just before extra time was up and waved his arms wildly to celebrate the chanting supporters and his team’s sensational comeback.
The Portuguese’s performance fitted into a game that had taken an unexpected turn just before the end of regulation time and in which Roma looked certain to lose. The Italians lost the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals 0-1 in Rotterdam. At home in the second leg on Thursday, shortly before the end of regular time, they were already on the verge of being eliminated with a score of 1-1.
Dybala saves Rome and José Mourinho in overtime
In the 89th minute, however, Argentinian Paulo Dybala made it 2-1. In extra time, Stephan El Shaarawy (101st) and Luca Pellegrini (108th) made it into the semi-finals. Bayer Leverkusen is waiting there.
“We all want to win. Mourinho told us that this would be the game,” Dybala said. “Extra time was ours.” The South American wrote a little later on Twitter: “Keep it up, magical Roma.” The live ticker of the Europa League even gave the game the title “incredible drama”.
After a good half hour things got so busy that Mourinho’s assistant coach got a red card. Salvatore Foti had previously physically attacked a Feyenoord player in the neck. Shortly before the end of extra time, visiting professional Santiago Gimenenz was sent off.
Police with a large contingent at the Olympic Stadium
Around the Olympic Stadium, the police wanted to prevent fan riots before and after the game with a large contingent. 1,500 officials had been assigned to intensify checks at train stations, airports and motorway access roads, among other things. Guest fans had been banned from entering the stadium by the Ministry of the Interior.
Ticket sales for the home game against Leverkusen on May 11th started on Thursday evening, as Roma announced on their website. The second leg in Leverkusen is on May 18th.